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THE 

\j\jm FARMER'S MANUAL: 

DETAILma THE 

MANIPULATIONS OF THE FARM IN A PLAIN 
AND INTELLIGIBLE MANNER. 

WITH PRACTICAL DIRECTIONS FOR 

LATTNG OUT A FARM, AND ERECTING BUILDINGS, FENCES, AND FARM GATEa 

EMBRACING ALSO 

THE YOUNG FARMER'S WORKSHOP: 

GIVIXG 



FULL DIRECTIONS FOR THE SELECTION OF GOOD FARM AND SHOP TOOLS, THEIR TTSE AND 

MANUFACTURE, WITH NUMEROUS ORIGINAL ILLUSTRATIONS OF FENCES, GATES, 

TOOLS, ETC., AND FOR PERFORMING NEARLY EVERY BRANCH OF 

FARMING OPERATIONS. 



BY S. EDWARDS TODD. 



NEW YORK: 

0. M. SAXTON, BARKER & COMPANY. 

No. 25 PARK ROW. 

1860. 






Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1860, by 

S. EDWARDS TODD, 

In the Cleric's Office of the District Court of the United States, for the Northern District 

of New Yorlc. 



EDWARD O. JENKINS, 

Printer and Stereotyper, 

No. 26 Feankfort Steket. 



PREFACE. 



" A useful book may live from age to age, 
And those unborn may read its printed page." — J. W. Bakbeb. 



The chief object of this little volume is, to instruct the young 
farmer how to perform the various operations of the farm in a 
skillful, economical, and workmanlike manner. From my early 
boyhood I have been engaged in the cultivation of the soil, and 
I have always experienced a very great disadvantage and incon- 
venience in not having a text-hook to assist me in putting tools 
and agricultural implements in proper order, and in handling 
them with skill and dexterity. Knowing well what difficulties 
and embarrassments a young farmer is sure to meet with, and 
understanding what instructions he will be most likely to need, it 
has been my aim to supply that knowledge which has for so long 
a time been called for by the young farmers of America, I have 
not written for farmers of mature age and long experience, to 
whom the contents of most of these paragraphs may appear too 
common-place^ but for the sons of farmers, and those who are 
leaving the merchants' counters and the mechanics' shops to en- 
gage practically in that honest, honorable, and noble calling — the 
cultivation of the soil. 

I have come directly from the farmer^s workshop, from the 

(3) 



iv PREFACE. 

stercorary^ from the ditch, and from following the plow, with tow- 
frock, and overalls, and India-rubber boots on, all bespattered 
with mud, with callous hands and stiff fingers, to show young 
farmers how to work. 

Most writers on agricultural subjects have appeared to take it 
for granted, that every one already understands the -practical 
operations in the various branches of business connected with 
the farm (see " Introduction") ; therefore we have no elementary 
works in our agricultural libraries, and when young men com- 
mence practically in any branch of farming operations, they are 
at a great loss how to perform, in a workmanlike manner, many 
of the most common operations of the farm without an expe- 
rienced foreman. 

It has been my aim to lay down most reliable directions in all 
my details ; and the young farmer can carry this volume into his 
workshop or into the field, and learn from its pages how to per- 
form every job in a workmanlike, easy, and most expeditious 
manner. 

I have endeavored to make use of simple and intelHgible lan- 
guage, which none can fail to understand ; and have numbered 
the paragraphs, so that when reference is made to a subject the 
reader may be able to turn at once to the paragraph, which will 
explain more particularly what he may desire to know. 

My manner of writing it has been to pen my own ideas, and 
then on any subject which might not seem very clear, to confer 
with such experienced and skillful farmers as Hon. David Crocker 
and Deacon Isaac Bower, who are known to be thorough-going 
farmers and producers of neat cattle, and to whose inspection I 
submitted my MS. for criticism. 

In regard to tools, and especially edged tools, I have conferred 



I 



PBEFACE. 



with many of our best mechanics, and I have not, as yet, been 
able to detect anything in this work which does not coincide with 
the most approved views and practices for manufacturing and 
for putting tools in order. 

The figures of tools and implements have been drawn with my 
own pencil, and I have penned nothing which has not been well 
tested, and have introduced no tools, or implements, which can 
be considered of doubtful utility. The reader will find about 
every tool which is represented in the following pages — and 
scores of others also — in my possession, which are in prime order. 

The chapter on fencing and fence tools, a portion of wliich has 
been re-written, was published in the volume of Trans, of the 
N. Y. State Agricultural Society for 1858 ; and it is a source of 
great chagrin to me that I did not have the proof-sheets in time 
to correct the numerous typographical errors, and to place some 
of the cuts right side up, and others in their appropriate places. 
Some of them were placed on the side, and some topsy turvy, 
while several of them, instead of being inserted where they were 
described, under their appropriate heads, were placed in another 
part of the chapter, where they were simply alluded to. I grin 
and bear it as well as any one ought, to. Some of the cuts were 
not engraved like the original drawings, and have since been re- 
engraved. 

Reference is frequently made to subjects in another volume, 
which will follow this in a succession of paragraphs and illustra- 
tions, which will relate more particularly to the cultivation of the 
soil and raising crops. 

There are ten ways of performing most of the operations of 
the farm ; there is a right way, and a wrong way ; an easy way, 
and a hard or very laborious way ; a skillful, and an awkward 



VI PREFACE. 

way ; a neat^ and a slovenly way ; and an economical^ and a very 
expensive way. As a general rule, tyros^ and, many times, " old 
uns,^^ too, are very liable to perform every job and handle every 
tool in one of these sinister ways. 

Now, one laudable object in this treatise is, to furnish plain 
directions, which, with the exercise of a little skill and com- 
mon sense, will turn our awkward, unskillful farmer-boys into 
skillful, neat, and economical farmers. 

A copious index will be found at the end of the volume, by 
which the reader will be able to turn without any difficulty to 
any subject, or cut of tool or implement. The first column of 
figures refers to the paragraphs in which whatever is referred to 
may be found ; and the second column refers to the page of the 
book. Reference is frequently made to paragraphs, in different 
parts of this book, where the subject under consideration is more 
fully explained, which should be looked out when reading. 

Stimulated by an ardent desire to give an efficient and skillful 
direction to the energies of the young American farmer, and ele- 
vate him to that high and noble standing which the Creator 
designed for him, I send forth this volume, hoping that my 
labors of love will be appreciated, not only by my contempora- 
ries, but by thousands yet unborn, when I am sleeping in the 
dust. S. E. T. 

Lake Ridge, Tompkins Co., N. Y., 1860. 



INTRODUCTION. 



" The sounds of active industry 
I love — I love them all : 
The banging of the hammer, the whirring of the plane, 
The crashing of the busy saw, the creaking of the crane." — Anox. 

The age has passed in which the hard-fisted cultivator of the 
soil was looked upon as an illiterate plebeian, and the last beams 
of its twilight are dancing about us. Our worthy grandfathers 
taught their sons that, if thev were able to read, intelligibly, the 
Bible and the " Babes in the Woods," which usually constituted 
their Hbrary, and could write a legible hand, and keep their debit 
and credit so that no one could cheat them, they would have all 
the education that would ever be of any practical advantage to 
them in agricultural pursuits. Our fathers allowed us to exceed 
the boundaries which restrained them, and permitted us to look 
into geography, natural philosophy, and chemistry, as appHed to 
agriculture ; and, after long importunity, allowed us to lay aside 
those old Bull Plows, with wooden mold-boards, and those clumsy, 
awkward, heavy, ill-shapen tool?, for those which had been manu- 
factured of better materials, and of forms more in accordance 
with the most approved mechanical and philosophical principles. 
Our forefathers were taught, and they inculcated the same pre- 
cept, that if a boy or man happened to be so unaccountably 
stupid that he would not be Hkely to make a successful doctor, or 
lawyer, or merchant, or mechanic, he must be a farmer ; but tve 



14 INTRODUCTION. 

have manfully broken off this tyrannical yoke of "old fogy" con- 
ventionalism, and teach our sons that we need the most active^ 
promising^ intelligent^ and skillful men and boys, for farmers ; and 
if a boy happens to be deficient in the attic story, he must learn 
a trade^ and be a mechanic. Our forefathers brought up their 
sons to feel that farmers belonged to an inferior caste ; and many 
of our fathers and fastidious mothers taught their children, that 
manual labor was dishonorable and degrading, and that, in order 
to be respected in the world, they must have a situation behind 
the merchants counter, or study theology, or jurisprudence. But 
we, at the present day, teach those under our care, that there is 
a no more honorable, nor respectable, nor honest livelihood, than 
that of cultivating the soil, and its kindred arts and sciences. 
And we teach them also, that, in order to be a thorough-going, 
energetic, and successful farmer, a man must be educated ; that he 
must have a good smattering of agricultural chemistry, natural 
philosophy, geology, mineralogy, botany, and a good peep into 
vegetable physiology, and arithmetic and geometry, &c. ; and 
must have a good understanding, also, of the manufacture of 
agricultural implements, according to the most convenient and 
approved form and weight ; and must know how to handle them 
with skill and dexterity. Therefore, 

A FARMER MUST BE A MAN OF THOUGHT AND INVESTIGATION. 

No man can reasonably expect to succeed in the thorough 
cultivation of the soil, and raise good crops on his farm from year 
to year, as long as he lives, and not -.mpoverish it, but leave it in 
as good, or even a better state of fertility at the end of his days, 
unless he is a man of thought, accustomed to devise the best and 
most practicable arrangements and systems of management, not 
only for -producing, but for consuming the productions of the farm. 
(See How to make a good farm better, in next vol.) He 
must not always be " whistling along for want of thought," but 
he must think beforehand — not a year afterwards — what he can 
do practically to bring all his practices and farming operations to 
a greater degree of perfection for the year to come, than they were 



INTRODUCTION. 15 

the past season. He must make note of his failures in every 
operation, and endeavor to have everything performed in the most 
seasonable time, and in the most economical and farmer-like man- 
ner. And 

A FARMER MUST BE A LABORING MAN. 

On the other side of the great water, the landlord^ the farmer, 
and the lalorer, exist in three distinct personages ; but in America, 
for the most part, these three are united in one. The most suc- 
cessful cultivators of the soil in America, whose opinions on 
agricultural subjects and whose practices are eagerly sought, and 
widely disseminated and adopted, are most generally men who 
are not ashamed nor mortified to be seen in a ditch, with a tow 
frock on, or holding the plow, or swinging the cradle. Reason 
and experience teach us that manual labor is by no means incom- 
patible with the growth and vigor of our intellects. Philosophy 
and long experience have furnished us with the most indubitable 
demonstration that active, energetic, manual employment, imparts 
vigor to the corporeal system, and that vigor of the body invigor- 
ates the brain. Our systems are so constituted, that while our 
hands are engaged in manual operations, the head and the heart 
may be led on to knowledge. It injures no one to labor with 
his hands ; and, although we were doomed to toil by the Creator, 
(Gen. 3: 19,) it is one of the greatest temporal blessings, in 
disguise, which mortals are permitted to enjoy. If a farmer's 
business should be so extensive that all his time is consumed in 
planning and in superintending, or if he is able to glide along 
through the \vorld passively, still he ought to have a good under- 
standing of manual operations, so as to be able to instruct those 
in his employ how to handle their tools with skill and efficiency. 
No man ever shortened his days by energetic, manual labor, 
alone ; but had fiahits have sent thousands to an untimely grave, 
whose demise was attributed to " hard worky Intellectual culture 
and manual labor must go hand in hand. The time is fast hasten- 
mg on, when the hands of hard-fisted industry will sway the 
destiny of the world. 



16 INTRODUCTION. 

A FARMER SHOULD BE A GOOD MECHANIC, 

theoretically, if lie is not practically. There are so many brandies 
of meclianical operations connected with farming, such as making 
farm gates, and fences, harrows, field-rollers, and tools of every 
description, and repairing old ones, and putting edge tools 
in order, and such like, that he who must necessarily depend 
entirely on some one else to perform every little job, cannot 
expect to succeed in farming operations like him who will accus- 
tom himself to handle mechanical tools with dexterity. More 
than one-half of our country mechanics, who work at their trade 
for a livelihood, are incompetent to perform a difficult job, in a 
neat and workmanlike manner, without a foreman. For this 
reason, if for no other, a farmer should be a good mechanic, in 
order to give proper directions how a piece of work should be 
performed, or whether or not it is perfect or faulty after it is 
finished. 

A FARMER SHOULD BE A MACHINIST. 

Now that so many new machines are being manufactured and 
introduced for performing the labors of the farm, a farmer needs 
the skill and discernment of an ingenious machinist, in order to 
understand whether a machine has been manufactured according 
to the most approved mechanical principles or not, and to detect 
at a glance any imperfection in its construction (see Fitting up 
MACHINERY, in the next vol.) ; and in case a machine fails in con- 
sequence of little imperfections in its manufacture, to be able to 
repair it himself or to direct another to do it, in a workmanlike 
manner. 



A FARMER SHOULD BE A GOOD ENGINEER. 



Agriculture now is ranked among the arts and sciences of the 
first order. Indeed, the cultivation of the soil has been not im- 
properly styled the " mother of arts." Perhaps in no other single 
art and science can there be found such a variety of simple and 
complex, cheap and expensive, tools and implements, as in agri- 
culture. Consequently, in order to be able to work, or manage, 



• 



INTRODUCTION. 17 

or handle with skill and efficiency, such a variety of implements 
and tools, a man needs an eye like a serpent, an ear like a roe, 
the perception of an elephant, and the skill and acumen of a 
honey-bee. He needs to have a good knowledge of the strength 
of materials — which lies at the very foundation of successful 
engineering — that he may be able to determine, without hesi- 
tancy, whether the various parts of a tool are of the correct pro- 
portion, (see next vol.,) or whether one part of a machine is 
made four times lighter, or heavier, as the case may be, than is 
required, or is necessary. It is important for him to know 
whether, in erecting buildings, the stress on the different parts is 
so great, or so small, as to need a timber one foot square, or six 
inches square. He should have a perception so acute when run- 
ning any kind of machinery as to determine, in an instant, by 
the sound and clatter^ whether the motion is too high or too low, 
or uniform, or variable, or when anything is not in complete run- 
ning order. He should be able to tell whether he is hauling 
with his team a number of hundred pounds of redundant mate- 
rial in a given machine ; and whether his team moves, or the 
parts of machinery run, at the most effective velocity or not. 
(See Velocity of saws.) A farmer should understand well the 
principles of draughty (see next vol.,) that he may not break his 
tools unnecessarily, nor use up the energies of his team to no 
good purpose. These are but a Yerj few of the qualifications 
which ought to be prominent characteristics of every successful 
cultivator of the soil ; and besides these, it is of primary im- 
portance that a farmer should under?faiu1, well, 

THE PROPER APPROPRIATION OF THE FORCES OP THE FARM, 

" The prudent foreman now, with timely care, 
Forecasts his labors ; gives to each his share. 
No force is misapplied : he keeps in view 
The faithful, trusty, and the idle, too. 
With plans well formed for every future day, 
His forces execute without delay," — Edwarps, 

Why does one farmer often accompHsh as much, or even more 



18 INTRODUCTION. 

labor with two workmen, than his neighbor does with four labor- 
ers of equal strength ? Why do the operations on one farm move 
on most effectively in every respect, without any hurry, or blus- 
ter, or fretting, or worrying of teams, while on the next farm all 
is hurry and excitement, and but little work done ? The answers 
to these interrogations may all be expressed m few words, which 
cannot be gainsayed : A want of wise plans, and an improper 
appropriation of the forces of the farm. 

Every farmer, in order to be successful, must have well-digested 
plans for performing every operation connected with his business. 
He can never hope to be successful who goes to work at random. 
A successful farmer will be a thinking man ; and all his plans will 
be so harmonious, that little, if any, of his available force will be 
improperly appropriated, under any circumstances. He will never 
send two laborers to perform a little job which one can do in 
about the same period of time. It cannot be denied that multi- 
tudes of pretty good farmers are most stupendously deficient on 
this point ; and it is no uncommon occurrence to see them employ 
two, three, and even four laborers to do what one hand could per- 
form very advantageously. There are very many operations on 
the farm which one hand cannot do to any good advantage ; but 
when one man can perform a given piece of work alone by work- 
ing four times as long as it would require four men to do it, as a 
general rule, in practice, it will be found to be most economical, 
on the score of expense, to employ but one hand at such a job. 
It cannot be expected that uninterested laborers will care but 
little how many of them are sent by their employer to perform a 
given job ; therefore the skillful and successful farmer, whether 
he is a tyro or not, should always think a moment, whether more 
than one hand is really needed, and whether one will not perform 
a certain job about as quickly as two will do it. 

The practice of some farmers always is, if there is a job or two 
of labor at a distant part of the farm which one hand could do in 
an hour or so most advantageously, to send three or four to do it, 
thinking that if one man can do it in two hours, two men will be 
able to do it in one hour ; and four men can do it in half an hour. 



INTRODUCTION. 19 

Did such reasoning hold good, there would be a loss of time by 
sending four hands. Suppose, for instance, the work is so far 
distant as to occupy ten minutes in going to it and ten minutes in 
returning. Now one laborer will go and do the job in two hours 
and twenty minutes, or in one hundred and forty minutes, when 
he will be ready for another job. But if four men are employed, 
each one consumes twenty minutes in going to and returning from 
the job, which will consume one hundred and ten minutes, pro- 
viding they perform the job in thirty minutes. With good faith- 
ful laborers, those who will work faithfully when alone, there is 
almost always a loss of time, in proportion to the number em- 
ployed.. There will be some waiting, one for another, which 
cannot conveniently be avoided. And more than all, when a lot 
of men work together, it often seems at first sight that they are 
driving the job with great rapidity, when, if the labor performed 
were divided up into plots, so that each could see exactly how 
much he had accomplished, they would all be ashamed that they 
had done so little. But it is much the wisest policy, many times, 
to have a lot of hands work together, because some men do not 
like to work alone, and they cannot work alone ; and if set to 
work alone, they cannot work, and they iviU not try. This is a 
weakness not uncommon to many pretty active men. They need 
the little stimulus of example ; and many times, men who are 
good for nothing when alone will accomplish a large day's work 
if they can have only the company of another individual, whether 
he is an associate laborer or not. On this point the tyro must 
exercise all possible acumen; and if it is his misfortune to have 
in his employ a laborer not unlike the one just alluded to, he 
should have every plan wisely laid beforehand, so that when his 
workmen have finished one job, he will be ready to give orders, 
with promptness, who shall go to this piece of work, and who 
shall do that. There will be time enough consumed in going to 
and returning from labor on a large farm, when the plans are ever 
so well laid ; but unless some forethought is exercised little will be 
accomplished. 

It is no uncommon occurrence on some farms to see two men 



20 INTRODUCTION. 

sent to get one team, and go half a mile or more to get a load of 
rails, or wood, or stone, or such like. We will grant that they 
may work advantageously in loading and unloading ; but if it 
consumes twenty minutes in going to, and twenty more in return- 
ing from their work, there is a loss of forty minutes with one la- 
borer, which might have probably been appropriated to some 
good purpose. Now let forty minutes be taken from every two 
hours during the entire day, and one third of his time will amount 
to nothing. Allowing fifteen or twenty minutes for one man to 
put on a load of rails, or of wood, if two were able to do it in 
half that time, there would be a waste of time. In hauling dirt, 
gravel, peat, muck, or manure, two men, and many times three^ 
are sent with one team and one cart, or wagon, to haul such sub- 
stances the distance of one fourth of a mile, or even more. Sup- 
pose, after loading, it requires only five minutes to drive to the 
place for unloading, and five minutes to return. If two laborers 
are employed, and both go to unload, there will be a loss of 
time of one man, of ten minutes each load ; amounting to more 
than two hours lost time during the working hours of one 
day. 

In mowing grass with scythes, or cradling grain, one man 
usually, especially if he will work alone, will cut more than half 
as much as two ; and as the number of hands are increased in 
one company at such work, the less labor will be performed in 
proportion to the number of workmen employed. Why ? Be- 
cause even when they are all faithful as possible, there will of 
necessity be a vast amount of waiting one for another. Suppose, 
for instance, there are five mowers, or cradlers. It will usually 
be seen that one who sets in first will work one or two minutes 
before there will be an opportunity for the last one to commence. 
Now, they will all work fifteen or twenty rods, and perhaps not 
half tliat distance, when there will be another halt until all come 
up escn, when the scythes must be whet. Then there is a delay 
of one for the other all day ; and it many times will amount to 
more than the working hours of one man in one day. And, 
besides, the labor performed will be most astonishingly less, in 



INTRODUCTION. 21 

proportion to tlie number of hands employed, than if one or two 
laborers onlj worked together. And, furthermore, when a lot 
of hands are mowing, or cradling together, each one is prompted, 
bj the recital of some nonsensical story or startling adventure, 
to relate something similar, in order to disclose his own indomi- 
table perseverance, or prowess, or magnanimity : and if there be 
half a score, all must wait to hear it. The true remedy is, to set 
a few hands at work in one field, and a few in another field, — 
when there will usually be a little ambition on the part of faith- 
ful workmen to perform quite as much, or a little more, and a 
little better, than the other party^/^ — ^ 

It is no uncommon thing to see two men sent to the woods to 
split rails, stakes, or the like, with but one beetle, and as many 
wedges and gl»ts, as one man only needs. Two laborers can 
work together very advantageously in splitting such materials 
only when each one has all the tools which one man requires. 
But when two men have but one beetle, and a corresponding 
number of wedges, if they are ever so faithful, there must neces- 
sarily be a loss of time, — unless one hand confines himself closely 
to splitting, while the other chops oJBf the cuts, and peals and 
piles whatever the other splits. But pealing, piling up, and cut- 
ting the cuts, are usually much less than half the labor required, 
to make rails and stakes. The true and economical way, when 
two men are employed to split rails together, is, to furnish each 
one with a be.etle, an axe, and as many wedges as he needs. And 
then let both work together, when opening the cuts, each one 
having a good handspike, especially when the cuts are large ; 
and when a cut is separated, let each one take one half to split 
into rails ; and they will not be in each other's way ; and all 
their time and labor will be most economically appropriated. 
(See Splitting Rails, par. 63.) 

In digging post-holes, two men are very frequently seen at 
work with but one set of tools. Under such circumstances, it is 
almost impossible for two laborers to dig in a day twice as many 
holes as one man alone will dig. When each one must of neces- 
sity wait a few minutes when he wants to use a tool, for the 



22 INTRODUCTION. 

other to finish using it, for the time there will be a loss of time ; 
and in a few days, those lost, idle moments, when a laborer is 
receiving seventy-five cents or more per day, will soon amount 
to enough to purchase a set of tools. 

During the season of haying and harvesting in particular, the 
tyro should see to it that every plan is most wisely and economi- 
cally laid, in disposing of the manual forces of the farm. "Whether 
he leads the van in active labor, or only superintends, he should, 
as occasion requires, think what disposition he may make of his 
.orces, in order to accomplish the greatest amount of labor in a 
given time. If, for example, it will be necessary to spread, or 
turn, or air a lot of hay, in some distant field, which one man 
will be able to do in half an hour or so, let one only go and do 
it. Let one hand only get a team, instead of sending two. 
When there are more than two hands in loading, let two pitch 
while one loads : because one man can load for two pitchers just 
as well as for one. When the distance is half a mile or more 
from the barn to the field,' and it is convenient to have two teams 
to haul with, three hands will accomplish more at hauling hay 
and grain, by putting on two loads in the field and driving them 
to the place of unloading, and unloading both wagons, than they 
will to use only one wagon and one team : because there will be 
less time not appropriated to useful labor when there are two teams, 
than when but one is used. In hauling anything any consider- 
able distance, in order to appropriate the working hours to the 
most economical purpose, each man should have a team, so that 
all his time may be consumed, if not in active labor, in something 
which consumes time, such as simply driving a team with a 
load. 

In hauling heavy logs or timber, where two or more hands are 
absolutely necessary in loading, in order to lose no time of work- 
men, each one should have a team ; and then two, three, or more, 
as may be necessary, should load one team, and then another ; 
and then each man drive a team to the place of unloading, when 
no time need be consumed to no purpose. 

I have been led to pen these thoughts in consequence of having 



INTRODUCTION. 23 

seen so much injudicious and uneconomical appropriation of the 
manual forces of the farm ; and by those, too, who were always 
grumbling, and complaining that their work was always hehind ; 
and that they were not able to get laborers to perform as much in 
a day for themselves, as when they were in the employ of some 
of their neighbors. I might expatiate upon the subject to four 
times its present length, with seeming propriety ; but enough 
has been said to induce the tyro to think and plan for himself, 
and to appropriate his forces according to the circumstances of the 
occasion. 

It may be urged that hard-working laborers need rest; and 
that it seems rather like a disposition to overreach the limits of 
fairness and propriety. It is granted that they need rest ; but 
there is no danger that they wiU not avail themselves of all the 
time, necessary or not, to reinvigorate their partially exhausted 
faculties. They will seldom consider any number of hours spent 
in idleness, in the light of rest ; nor will they seldom feel willing 
to make any greater exertion, _when they are in active labor, if 
half their time is consumed in idleness, than they do when they 
work during all the working hours of one or of many days. 
There are always rainy days, and portions of days, during the 
year, when laborers cannot labor at all advantageously ; but they 
must receive the same wages that they do when they are earning, 
in a day, twice the sum which they receive per day. But, when 
the weather is fair, it is but just and right that all the forces should 
be brought into operation, in the most economical and effective 
manner. The tyro should plan work for his hands on the pre- 
ceding day, so that each one, as soon as he rises in the morning, 
can start immediately to his business, without hanging around a 
half-hour or more, before he knows what to go about. Let one 
iii.m go and feed the teams; and another do this, and another 
oi. do that job, until breakfast time, and in this way a long 
catalogue of little jobs will be performed, during the season, which 
otherwise would have gone undone. Another consideration of 
vast importance is, 



24 INTRODUCTION. 



THE COOPERATION OF THE WIFE. 

" Good husband without it is needful there be : 
Good housewife within is as needful as he." — Tusskr. 

However judiciously and economically the plans for the opera- 
tions of the farm may be laid, if a man and his wife do not har- 
monize^ most completely, in prosecuting their labors, he had better 
at once dispose of his farm, and lay by the avails of it for decrep- 
itude and old age, and work out by day's work. The housewife 
and her operations are the great regulator of the operations of the 
farm. There is too much truth in the old maxim, for fiction, that 
" if a man would succeed well in his livelihood^ he must ask his wife^ 
A very great fault among many farmers is, they do not consult 
their wives in relation to matters with reference to which it is 
highly proper they should have a word or two to say. We com- 
miserate the man who bears the reproach of a hen-pecked husband ; 
and, when we see a wife ruling, and engineering in-doors and out 
of doors, we think that if she had a husband far superior to her- 
self she would be a woman of sterhng worth. It cannot be 
denied that wives have often made, to their husbands, some most 
capital suggestions, in reference to the operations of the farm ; 
and it must be acknowledged, that many women are far more 
capable of planning judiciously, and carrying on more economi- 
cally the operations of the farm, than their husbands. But if a 
wife superintends and executes, in the best manner, the in-door 
operations, nothing more should be required of her. I know that 
very many men consider it a little beneath them to consult their 
wives with reference to any of their plans ; and they will never 
suffer their wives to know, if they can prevent it, any thing about 
their income or expenditures, or their debit or credit. But it is 
a matter of doubt whether there ever was an instance in which a 
man habitually consulted his wife, when, as a consequence, it 
proved detrimental, or a disparagement to him in any respect. 
There can be no impropriety in the practice of some men, of 
allowing the housewife to know exactly all about the income and 



INTRODUCTION. 26 

expenditures, the debit and credit of the farm ; and if these wise 
ones, who congratulate themselves that they have a most perfect 
knowledge of the best manner of performing the operations of the 
farm, would confer a little more with their wives, their wisdom 
would be greatly increased. 

" A man may spare and yet X)e bare, 
If his wife be naught — if his wife be naught I 
But a man may spend, and have cash to lend, 
If his wife be aughi — ^if his wife be aught I" 



THE 



YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 



CHAPTEE I. 

SELECTING THE MOST SUITABLE LOCATION FOR THE BUILDINGS 

OF A FARM. 

" Be this our home — that ever hallowed spot, 
To plant a palace or a lowly cot." 

1. The first and very important consideration with a young 
farmer, as soon as he comes into possession of a farm, is, to have 
all his buildings situated in the most convenient location, with 
reference to each other and to the different fields of the farm. 
If a farm is broken up by gullies and deep ravines, if convenience 
of access to fields on both sides of them is any object, the yoimg 
farmer should endeavor to have his buildings located at the most 
desirable point. If a farm is rather undulating, or nearly level, 
and its boundaries at nearly right angles, it is not attended with 
much diflSculty to select a site for the farm buildings which shall 
prove most convenient in every respect. It is always most 
desirable to have every field as convenient of access from the 
barn as possible. This is desirable, not only for the sake of 
convenience, but for the sake of economy in the expenses of 
travelling, with or without loads, to and from the fields. Some 
people will select only a high spot of ground for locating farm 
buildings, and never even think of consulting convenience of 

(27) 



/ 

28 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

access to the distant parts of a farm. Americans almost univer- 
sally will erect their buildings along the highway, even when such 
a location would place them entirely on one side of their farm. 
When the boundaries of a farm are in the shape of a wedge, 
which is not unfrequently the case, and the barn is located on the 
small end, it makes a vast amount of unnecessary travel and 
labor in hauling the produce of distant fields to the barn, and in 
returning the manure to them. Streams of water and springs 
often influence the young farmer in choosing the most desirable 
and convenient location for buildings ; but streams of water can 
be so easily turned from their natural course, and the water of 
springs can be brought in pipe or tube at so small an expense, 
and up hiU, too, that these considerations should have but little 
weight in selecting the location for the buildings of a farm. 
When the farm is composed of only forty or fifty acres, and is 
located in a square compass, if the buildings are all located on 
one side of it the inconvenience is not so great as it is when the 
buildings are all on one side of a large farm. Convenience would 
dictate that the buildings should be located as near the middle of 
the farm as is practicable. 

2. It is true that there are many advantages in having the 
buildings of the farm located on the borders of the highway; 
but it is a very rare instance in which the disadvantages attend- 
ing the performance of the labors of the farm — if the farm is a 
large one — would not have a preponderating influence if they 
were fairly and impartially compared. There are some farmers 
who have torn away from the very common custom of building 
along the highway, and have located their buildings in the centre 
of the farm, and the result is, the most distant fields are situated 
nearer the barn, and much less time is spent in going to and from 
them. Should the centre of a farm be an undesirable location, 
on account of low, wet ground, it would be far better to locate a 
little at one side of the centre, than to be placed entirely at one 
side of the farm. 

3. If I were to commence on a new farm of only fifty, or of 
two hundred acres, on which there were no streams or springs 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S IviANUAL. 29 

of water, I would dig a large, deep well in tlie centre of the 
farm, and erect a wind wheel for pumping the water; and here 
I would locate the buildings, and would lay out a lane each way 
from the centre of the farm, north, south, east, and west, so that 
cattle could go to and come from any field to the water without 
crossing another field. The land appropriated to lanes would 
produce pasture, and therefore would not be useless. If it were 
only ^Hhe fashion^^ to have the buildings of a farm located near 
the centre of it, the inconveniences arising from having the build- 
ings located entirely at one side of it would seem almost intoler- 
able. It will require no more land for the sites of buildings, and 
for pleasure grounds and yards, in the centre of a farm, than would 
be occupied near the borders of the highway. 

4. For the arrangement and disposition of buildings, and for 
plans of dwelling-houses, and plans of out-buildings — as a chapter 
of proper length on that subject would swell this Treatise far 
beyond its prescribed limits — ^young farmers who are interested 
in this subject, will find all that the most fastidious can desire on 
this subject, in works devoted to that subject. 

PLOTTING THE FARM AND LAYING OUT THE FIELDS. 

5. Every farmer should draw a Plan of his farm on a large 
sheet of drawing-paper, which may be inclosed in a wooden 
frame, or it may be delineated on a large board, neatly planed. 
Let the Deed of a farm be taken to a good surveyor, who has 
the proper instruments, and he will be able to delineate the shape 
of any farm, with the different distances of a proper proportion to 
each other, with the outside lines running at the same angle in 
the plan that they do on the farm. The larger the plan is, the 
better it will be. The next step will be, to lay out the farm into 
fields of the most convenient shape and size. If the farm is a 
large one, the fields may be proportionately large ; but if the 
farm is small, and the proprietor designs to keep a limited num- 
ber of cattle, or animals of any kind, the fields must be small. 
It should always be the aim, in dividing a farm into fields, by 
fences, to have the boundaries of each field run about at right 



30 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

angles. But when a farm is cut up with highways, railroads, 
and deep gullies, which do not run parallel with the outside 
boundaries, the young farmer must exercise a little judgment and 
skill in giving them a shape that will be most convenient of 
access from the barn. If the buildings are so located that the 
fields must necessarily be all on one side of a lane, leading to the 
barn, it would be more convenient to have the fields eighty or 
one hundred rods long, and of a narrow width, and let them 
extend from the farther boundary of the farm to the lane, than to 
have the fields square and be obliged to cross one or two fields 
in order to reach a distant field. Sometimes it seems desirable 
to make the fields of an irregular shape, in order to allow animals 
in each field to have access to water. But it is not always ad- 
visable to give a field an irregular shape for the sake of a stream 
of water, when it can be brought to that field for a small expense. 
It is always desirable to have the fields of a uniform size, especially 
when one adopts, in raising crops, a rotation system. 

6. The first settlers of our country were accustomed to locate 
their buildings almost anywhere ; and to clear and cultivate the 
best and dryest land first ; and to fence around those parts of the 
farm which were too wet to plow, and to keep them for pasture 
only. The result was, that the fields of many farms were as 
irregular in shape as a shapeless rock. When the location is 
such that such places can be drained, the fences should be made 
in the desired places, and all wet places and corners made dry by 
ditching. Having decided upon the form and size of each field, 
let marks be dehneated in the plan to represent the fences. Let 
each field be designated in the plan by some name, or title, or by 
some tree, or rock, or pool, or they may be designated as the 
fields A, B, C, &c. This plan, or map, should be placed where 
every one connected with the farm could see it often, and under- 
stand the location of every field, and woods, and yard, and build- 
ing, from the map. Now, if there are little streams running 
across the farm, let them be represented by dotted lines, running 
at about the same angle in the map that they do on the farm. 
When under-drains are made in any field, dotted lines should be 



THE YOUNG FARMEE's MANUAL. 81 

made on the map to represent ttn^m. The distances should be 
accurately measured in the field,^-how many rods from a given 
corner a certain ditch crosses the boundary of such a field, and 
how many rods it runs in a given direction, and how many rods 
from a certain corner it crosses the fence towards the outlet. 
Should there be branches in a main ditch, let the distance from a 
given side of the field be accurately measured, in rods or feet, and 
noted down with the dotted lines on the map. All this will not 
require as much time, if everything is performed systematically, 
as I have consumed in penning these few thoughts. If the 
ditches are filled with tile, stone, or wood, in any form, let it be 
noted on the map, and also the time when the ditches were made. 

7. T he advantage to be derived from knowing exactly, to one 
foot or less, where an under-drain is located, may often be of 
more or less pecuniary profit, in case a certain ditch should fail 
to discharge the surplus water where it is located, in consequence 
of some little obstruction, which could be readily found if the 
exact location of the drain were known. (See Draining, 395.) 

8. If a young farmer should happen to settle on a farm where 
all the necessary buildings are erected and the fields laid out, he 
may frequently obviate many very great inconveniences, by 
altering the shape of his fields, and by removing the out-build- 
ings to a more desirable and convenient location. 

GENERAL REMARKS AND SUGGESTIONS IN REFERENCE TO 
ERECTING FARM BUILDINGS. 

9. Every man who has a lot of farm buildings to erect, needs 
all the forethought and experience of him who has had the super- 
vision of erecting the necessary buildings of a large farm, in 
order that he may be able to plan everything judiciously, and 
see that every part of a job is executed economically and sub- 
stantially. Erecting buildings is a piece of labor which is not to 
be performed every year of a man's life ; and it is almost always 
quite impracticable to undo, and perform correctly, a job in build- 
ing that has been done amiss. Not one in fifty knows how to 
take advantage of common circumstances in erecting his build- 

9 



32 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

ings ; and but few know really wliat materials are actually neces- 
sary, or know how to obtain them in the most economical and 
expeditious manner. A few practical suggestions on this subject 
may be of almost incalculable advantage to the young farmer. 

10. When a man of little experience is about to commence 
building, he should make a most vigorous effort to ascertain 
what kind of buildings — ^how large or how small, whether of 
wood, brick, or stone — ^he really needs. It may save him seve- 
ral hundreds of dollars, to first procure the excellent periodicals 
published on this subject ; as in them he will find an almost 
unlimited variety of ground plans and elevations of buildings. 
In order to build most economically, the stone and sand should 
all be hauled in the winter, when the labors of the farm are not 
on hand ; and boards and plank should be well-seasoned, not less 
than one year, before they are worked up. In the meantime, 
the beginner should confer with those who have had experience 
in planning buildings ; and endeavor to have every plan arranged 
in the most complete and economical manner. Always, if pos- 
sible, commence building ^?^ the spring; because the weather is 
usually more favorable, and the days are longer, and workmen 
will perform full one quarter or one third more, than they will be 
able to do in the short, unfavorable, and cold days of autumn. 
We will commence with 

THE DWELLING-HOUSE. 

11. Every dwelling-house needs a good cellar beneath it. 
And in order to have it cool in summer, and dry and warm in 
winter, the foundation walls should be built not less than twenty 
inches above the level of the ground, after the ground has been 
levelled off, in order to furnish sufficient space for the cellar win- 
dows. The surface of the ground should always descend a little 
from the house in order to carry off the surface water. Before 
the cellar walls are laid, a good drain should be cut not less than 
six inches deeper than the bottom of the cellar, and a little trench 
dug entirely around the bottom of the cellar leading into the 
main ditch. Now, let water be poured into the trench to ascer- 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 83 



tain whetlier it will flow out freely into the main ditch. If 
water will run out of the trench into the main ditch, lay pipe or 
sole tile, having not less than an inch and a half calibre, in this 
trench entirely around the cellar, aijd cover them with hard dirt, 
well tramped down on the tile. These tile will carry off all water 
that would find its way into the cellar. Let tile be laid in the 
main drain. Two inch tile is sufficiently large. Never trust to 
a drain filled with stone about a cellar, or beneath any building ; 
because they will be filled with some obstruction in a few years. 
Let the main drain extend into the cellar a foot or two. Let the 
bottom of the cellar be a few inches highest in the centre. If it 
is convenient, let a lead pipe extend from the bottom of the rain- 
water cistern through the foundation of the cellar, having a 
faucet or plug in the end, so that when the cistern needs to be 
emptied, or the cellar-bottom needs cleaning, water may be let 
out of the cistern on the cellar bottom, and allowed to escape 
through a hole in a flat stone into the drain. All the sur- 
plus water of the cistern, during heavy rains, should pass off 
through the tile for the purpose of keeping the passage Slear. 
Never build a dry wall around a cellar under any building ; 
because you will wish a thousand times in less than five years, 
chat the stone had been laid up in good mortar. (Read paragraph 
187, to learn the best manner of laying stone walls.) Remember 
that roots and fruit will freeze much sooner in a damp cellar than 
they will in a dry one. Make calculations to have sufficient 
space in the cellar to allow a tall man to walk erect in it, and 
carry a basket of potatoes on his shoulder. If a building is 
large and heavy, the foundation stone should be sunk six inches 
below the bottom of the cellar ; and the stone walls should in 
no case be less than twenty inches in thickness. Thirty inches 
thick would be far better. 

12. In hauling the stone for the cellar wall, the young farmer 
sliould endeavor to select those first which have a good face side, 
and reject all ill-shapen ones ; and when unloading them, let 
them be well spread out, with the face side up, and corner-stones 



34 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

by themselves, so that a stone-mason will be able to select readily 

such as he needs, first or last. 

WATER LIME CELLARS. 

13. In localities where building-stone is very scarce, and the 
subsoil is very compact and hard, the cellar walls may be built 
with a small amount of stone, after the manner of building in 
this region. Excavate the ground of the size of the cellar, about 
one foot deep, and build the foundation wall two feet high, mak- 
ing calculations to grade up on the outside nearly one foot high. 
Let the wall above the ground be carried up with square timber 
to the desired height. There should be a narrow space between 
the timbers, as frost will not pass timbers of the same thickness, 
when there is a space between them, as soon as it will one solid 
stick : and so with stone foundations. If a wall is built of two 
courses of stone, the frost will be excluded from the cellar much 
longer than it will if the stones extend entirely across the wall. 

Now, let the cellar be dug about three and a half feet below 
the hsttom of the walls, leaving a square shoulder of earth, not less 
than two feet wide, entirely around the cellar; and let this 
shoulder of earth be Avell plastered with water-lime mortar, both 
on the side and on the top. This shoulder will be found a very 
convenient shelf to place barrels on in the winter. I know of 
cellars that have been built in this manner fifteen years, and are 
now as good as when they were first built. But the frost must 
be kept out of such cellars, or it will injure such plastering, and 
make it peel off. The middle of such cellars should be the 
highest, and a gutter made around the outside to carry off the 
water. My own cellar is built in this manner ; and although it 
has been built ten years, and has been injured by the frost only a 
little in two places, still I regret that the walls were not built 
from the bottom of the cellar with good stone. These consider 
ations with reference to the foundation wall, are equally applicable 
to the foundation of a barn or other out-buildings. Every build- 
ing should have a good stone wall under it, laid up in lime mortar. 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 35 

14. In building the superstructure, as a general rule, timber is 
made use of which is nearly twice as large as is necessary. It is 
better to have the frame timber too large than too small. Sills, 
one foot square, lying on a good stone wall, are more than twice 
as large as is necessary. And, besides, such large timber is very 
liable to be affected with the " dry rot." Sills, six by eight, or 
ten inches square, are sufficiently large for any building that is 
erected on a wall, whether dwelling-house or barn.* For small 
building, sills that are six inches square are infinitely better 
than if they were four times as large. When a tree is a large 
one, of which it is desirable to make a sill or other timber, let it 
be slit at the saw-mill of the desired size. A tree w411 often turn 
out four good sticks of timber when sawed, besides some boards 
or plank ; whereas, if it was scored and hewed only one stick 
could be obtained. Where the plates of a building are supported 
by studs between the posts, if they are five by eight inches square, 
they will be sufficiently strong for the roof of any ordinary build- 
ing. As most kinds of timber, with the heart of the tree in the 
middle of the stick, is liable to check and crack open, often to its 
great injury, if a tree is slit through the middle for a couple of 
plates, they will not check. If there is a large seam in the middle 
of the tree, a plank or two may be sawed out of the middle, and 
the plates cut out of the soundest wood. 

15. The Roofs of buildings are often made too flat for profit. 
A flat roof, whatever the materials are of which it is made, is far 
more liable to leak than a steep roof, and it will leak much sooner 
than if it were steeper; and the same roof will be serviceable 
full ten years longer if built with a half pitch, than it will if built 
with a quarter pitch. f A roof looks far better, and is more 

* A largo church was recently taken down in this town, the sills of which were of the 
best of white oak, one foot square, and although the outside was as sound and tough as 
good spoke timber, about one-third of the middle of the sills was nothing but a mass of 
" dry rot." The rationale is, that the sills could not season only in part, because they 
were so large. 

■j- When a building is sixteen feet wide, and the ridge of the roof is four feet higher than 
the top of the plates, the roof is said to have o quarter, or one-fourth pitch. When the 
ridge of the roof is eight feet higher than the top of the plates, and the building sixteen 
feet wide, it is said to have a half -pitch. 



36 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

durable, when it lias about one-third pitch, than if it is built flatter. 
When a roof, covered with wooden shingles, has one-half 2ntch, 
the shingles may be completely worn out before that roof will 
leak. And another consideration of great importance is, in 
countries like this, where snow falls deep, the roofs of buildings 
should have not less than one-third pitch, because the steeper the 
roof is, the less liable a body of snow is to lodge on it ; and a 
body of snow that would thrust the plates apart, or injure the 
roof, if it had but a fourth pitch, would not remain on a steep 
roof "When heated air from any of the rooms below the roof 
melts the snow on the roof in cold weather, the water thus formed 
will run down to the eaves, and freeze before it falls into the 
eaves-troughs ; and if there is much snow on the roof, and the roof 
has less than one-third pitch, ice will continue to form at the 
eaves, until it becomes so thick that the water will flow back 
under the shingles, and fall down on the walls in the upper 
rooms. This is of very common occurrence in this region, and 
many costly walls in elegant dwellings have been seriously 
damaged in this way. 

16. The remedy is, steeper roofs, with the eaves projecting 
beyond the sides of the building, not less than two feet, measur- 
ing horizontally. If the roof projects two feet or more, and is 
rather steep, there will not be as much water and ice ; and should 
it freeze at the eaves, there will not be enough on the roof to 
cause the water to flow back under the shingles above the plates. 

17. The beginner should be careful to see that when a house 
or any other building is framed, some means is devised to pre- 
vent the middle of the building from spreading. Jobbers are not 
particular on this point, and many times the plates at the middle of 
the building will be thrust apart several inches, to the great injury 
of the building. Sometimes a scantling bolted from near the foot 
of one rafter to the other, called a collar, on each of the rafters, 
will be sufficient. In large buildings, if the roof is not supported 
by purline plates and posts, the foot of the rafters should be 
secured by means of a ti'uss, or a tie and king-post and struts. 
Sometimes this may be most effectually prevented, as in a hay 



THE YOUNG FARI^r'S MANUAL. 87 

barn, where a beam would be verj much in the way, by fitting 
a brace, witliout mortises, and bolting one end of it to the middle 
post just below the plate, and the other end to the upper side of 
the beam which supports the floor. Braces in such places, when 
put in with tenon and mortise, almost always give way, and it is 
not safe to rely upon them. 

18. When a roof is covered with wooden shingles, a little 
care should be exercised in having the shingles three courses thick. 
The distance which one course of shingles is laid alcove the 
other, is called laying to the weather. If shingles are laid six 
inches to the weather, and the greater part of them are a little 
less than eighteen inches in length, the shingles will not be of 
three thickness over the entire roof; but there will be many places 
at the butts of each course, where the top end of the under 
course does not extend far enough up the roof to receive the 
water as it falls from the butts of the outside course. A new 
roof often will leak because the shingles are laid more than one- 
third of their length to the weather ; whereas, the courses should 
be laid a little less than one-third the length of the shortest 
shingles. 

OUT-BUILDINGS. 

19. Many farmers seem to prefer a lot of small detached barns 
to one large one. But those who have ever had a cluster of 
small barns, and afterwards came in possession of one larger one, 
greatly prefer a large one to a lot of small ones. On the score 
of economy, one large barn that will contain as much as tliree 
or four small ones, will cost nearly one half less to erect it ; and 
a number of small ones are never as convenient as one large one. 
The young farmer, as a general rule, need have no apprehensions 
that he will erect a barn larger than is necessary, for the com- 
plaint almost always is a want of barn room. Barn room usually 
is all occupied ; and in most instances it pays a good interest ; 
but so much redundant house room as is too frequently met with, 
is a decided disadvantage to a farmer. A few years ago barns 
were built with posts only twelve and fourteen feet in length ; 
because it was so laborious and expensive pitching hay or grain 



38 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

to tlie top of them. But now that we have very efficient horse 
elevators, out-lmildings should be made much higher than they 
formerly were. It costs but a trifle more to frame a post twenty- 
four feet long than it costs to frame one fourteen feet long ; and 
it requires no more rafters, and roof boards, and shingles, to 
cover a high building than a low one. The posts of a large 
barn may just as well be, and ought to be, twenty-four feet long, 
as to be shorter. If such posts are eight inches square no one need 
have any fears that they would ever prove too small ; providing 
every one is well braced. Every additional brace gives addi- 
tional stiffness to a building ; and the young farmer should insist 
on having the foot of every post braced, where they will not be 
in the way, with as long braces as there is room for receiving ; 
and each end should he well pinned. One brace at the foot of a 
post, is more effectual in rendering a high building stiff, than two 
braces at the top of it. The braces in a barn frame may face 
with the inside of the posts ; and then they can cross the girts ; 
and braces as long as can be received between the posts can be 
used without interfering with the girts or studs. 

20. Jobbers will usually mutter and grumble when requested 
to put in long braces on the inside of posts ; and will deny the 
importance of having long braces, and of having the ends of 
them well pinned. But these ideas have not been penned with- 
out knowing from experience how a building should be braced, 
in order to render it as stiff as possible with a given quality and 
form of materials. It is by no means the largest timbers that 
can be worked into a building, which impart the greatest strength 
and stiffness to the frame ; but it is the manner in luJiich the framing 
is performed. Every tenon, where it is possible, should pass 
entirely through a sill or post ; and be well pinned with very 
tough pins. Tlie girts — or girders — should never be placed more 
than four feet apart. If they are much farther apart, the outside 
boards, which are nailed to them, will not be as firm as they 
should be. The main beams should be not less than fourteen 
feet from the floor ; so as to allow sufficient room for a load of 
hay or grain to pass under them. If such beams are eight by 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 



89 



ten inclies square, and supported at proper distances with middle 
posts, they will be large enough for any barn. The beginner 
should, at the commencement of a job, give the foreman direc- 
tions to let the ends of every beam into the posts not less than 
half an inch, so that the superincumbent pressure will not all 
rest on the tenons. 

21. The sleepers or joists of the principal floor should be 
stiff enough to sustain any team and load without bending ; and 
they never should be placed more than three feet apart from 
centre to centre, even when two inch plank is used, for the floor. 
Two inch basswood plank, thoroughly seasoned, with the edges 
plowed- with a half-inch plow, a half-inch deep, and a tongue 
neatly fitted, like Fig. 1, will make as neat a barn floor as any 

Fig. 1. 






MANNER OF CXITIXG BARN-FLOOR PL.\XK. 



one can desire. Fig. 2 represents the best manner of uniting the 

Fig. 2. 




MANNER OF MAKING END JOINTS TO FLOORING. 

ends of plank or floor boards. In the absence of good plank, a 
double floor of inch boards will subserve a good purpose. In 
this case, a good coating of tar, or lime and tar, should be laid 
between them for the purpose of excluding wire-worms and all 
other insects, and for rendering the floor tight and firm. 

22. When there are a number of different kinds of timber in 
the frame, such as soft and hard wood, the proprietor should see 
that the workmen have three or four different sizes of nails in 
their boxes. Every good joiner knows that it is not always 
practicable to drive ten or twelvepenny nails into seasoned, hard 
2* 



40 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

wood. In nailing on siding or inch boards, if the timber is hard 
wood, nails of a smaller size should be used. Let a workman 
attempt to nail on a half-inch board with tenpenny nails driven 
into a stud of sugar maple, thoroughly seasoned ; and after the nail 
has entered about one inch it will bend or break ; and the siding 
will most assuredly be split. Let sixpenny nails be used for nail- 
ing into hard wood, and eights and tens — according to the thickness 
of the boards — when the studs, posts, or girders are of soft wood. 

23. In order to keep the large beams from springing outwards 
or in either direction, two or three of the middle joists should be 
let in with a dove-tail. 

24. Rafters should be firmly spiked — ^not pinned with wooden 
pins — to the plates ; because wooden pins are very liable to 
shrink and become loose ; and if the roof should project as far 
as it ought to in order to appear well, a violent gale of wind 
would lift the roof from the plates. But fortypenny nails will 
hold it in place. 

25. Reference should be had, in erecting a large barn, to the 
most proper and economical disposition of the room. The joists, 
which extend from one large beam to another, should be loose, so 
that they can be removed until the mow is filled up to them, 
when they should be put in their places, and a few loose boards 
laid on them. Now the lower part of the mow may be threshed 
out ; and then the upper part can be threshed, and the straw de- 
posited in the lower part of the mow. Should more room be 
needed, the horse fork may be used to pitch a lot of straw into 
the upper part of the mow. 

26. Every good barn should, have a basement story, and a 
w^ater channel of tile should be laid around the entire foundation, 
as recommended for a cellar, paragraph 11, in order to render it 
as dry as possible ; and the barnyard should be so constructed 
that no manure will be wasted. 

27. Eaves-troughs should conduct all surplus water into the 
tile, for the purpose of keeping them open. Basement and cellar 
walls are often ruined by allowing the water to fall from the 
eaves and soak into the ground along the walls. 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 



41 



28. When a carriage-house, hay-barn and stable are erected 
under one roof, the posts may be eighteen or twenty feet high, 
just as well as ten or twelve feet to the roof. When the posts 
are short there is but little room for hay. It will cost but a few 
dollars more to erect a carriage-house with twenty-feet posts than 
with twelve-feet posts. 

29. I have erected a carriage-house the past summer with 
eighteen-feet posts ; and I regret they were not twenty feet long. 
The roof is one-third pitch, and on the top, at the middle of the 
ridge, is a hole five and a half feet square ; and a square cupola, 
with a door five and a half feet square on one side of it, is 
erected over it, into which hay is pitched with a horse-fork. The 
highest pulley is attached in the top of the cupola. With such 
an arrangement the loft can be filled with hay to the peak with 
no inconvenience. 

30. As tie beams are always very much in the way in a hay- 
barn, in my carriage-house loft, braces, made of iron-wood poles 
six inches in diameter and seven feet long, were neatly fitted, 
without tenons, and bolted to the middle posts below the plats, and to 
the upper side of the middle beam with iron bolts three-fourths of an 
inch in diameter, as represented by Fig. 3. Such braces keep the 

Fig. 3. , , beam from sagging, and the 

plates from sj^reading apart. 

SCARFING TIMBERS. 

31. It is often very difiicult to 
procure timber of a given length. 
For sills and beams that are well 
sustained with middle posts or 
studs, they subserve about as 
good purpose if they are neatly 
scarfed together, and keyed, or 
well bolted. 

32. There are several different 
modes of scarfino;, or "splicinsr," 

MAXXEU OF BOLTIXG A TIE BK-VGE TO BEAM ^' ^ '^' 

AND pasT. timbers ; but some are very in- 

efficient, while some others will render a stick almost as ntrong as 




42 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 



a whole stick. Fig. 4 represents the best and strongest manner 

Fig. 4. 




STRONGEST MANNER OF SCARFING POSTS AND BEAMS. 

of scarfing timbers. This style requires more skill to make good 
joints than either of the other figures. This style is calculated 
more particularly for beams and posts. When timber is scarfed 
like Fig. 4, iron bolts should be put through both ways, and the 
feather-edged ends well nailed. When two timbers are scarfed 
like Fig. 5, if they are well pinned with woodeq pins iron bolts 

Fig. 5. 




MANNER OF SCARFING SILLS. 



will not be necessary. The square hole in the middle of the 
scarf or splice should be laid out with about one-eighth of an inch 
draw ; so that when a wooden key is driven firmly in, the pieces 
will be brought to a close joint. 

CAUSE OF DECAY OF THE TIMBEES OF A BUILDING. 

33. If the timbers of a building should be kept dry, they 
would remain sound and serviceable during all time, even if they 
were not made of the most durable kinds of Avood. When mor- 
tises for studs, or anything else, are made in the upper side of a 
sill, or any other part of the frame; or when there are large checks 
in the upper side of a stick, a hole should be bored in the side of 
the stick, so as to intersect the bottom of mortises or checks, for 
the purpose of affording a passage for any water to escape that 
might find its way into such cavities. I know it is argued that 
when a house is erected it should be so well inclosed that no 
water can ever find its way into cavities in the timber. But 



THE YOUNG FARMEK S MANUAL. 48 

sometimes a driving storm will force the water through small 
cracks, so that it will be very difficult to determine from what 
source it comes. And may times, in cleaning house, some do- 
mestics will have every floor in the house completely deluged 
with water, which flows into mortises and checks, and soon causes 
decay. "When my dwelling-house was erected, a hole was bored 
with a large bit in the side of the timber at the bottom of every 
mortice, and other cavities in the frame. 

34. As there are so many manufactories throughout the coun- 
try of window blinds, sash, and panel doors, the beginner will find 
it most economical usually to purchase such articles ready made ; 
because all such things when made by machinery are neater and 
truer than the majority of mechanics will make them, even if they 
have ability to do it as well. Panel doors should be allowed to 
season nearly a year before they are pinned together, and then 
they will not shrink after they have been hung. 

VALUE OF BASSWOOD. 

35. "Whenever a man is located where pine lumber is scarce, 
and very costly, and other timber is abundant, such as basswood, 
whitewood, butternut, chestnut, and some other kinds of wood, 
they may be used instead of pine. For inside panel doors, bass- 
wood, for both stiles and panels, is equally as good as pine. 
"When I built my house I used basswood for many jamb casings, 
and for the face casings, and for outside doors as well as inside. 
Basswood is better to paint on than good pine ; and will be as 
durable as pine if it is kept well painted. Some of the face cas- 
ings in my parlor are basswood, some butternut, and some pine. 
They are painted white ; and nearly every stick of pine can 
be selected, because the coloring matter in the pine has struck 
through the paint, notwithstanding it has been well painted four 
times. Basswood siding is now coming into very extensive use ; 
and if I were to build a house, or any other building, and had 
good basswood on my own land, I would not hesitate to use it for 
siding, doors, and all kinds of casings, and for floors. 

36. Bassioood Shingles. — In localities where pine and hemlock 



44 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

are scarce, and basswood is abundant, the beginner need not hesi- 
tate to use basswood shingles, providing they are well coated with 
coal tar once in two or three years. They may be sawed, cut, or 
shaved. I have laid several thousands of sawed basswood shingles 
during the past season, and I have great confidence in them. 
It is necessary to use nearly twice as many nails in nailing them 
on as is necessary for pine and hemlock. If basswood shingles are 
from eight to ten inches wide, each shingle should be nailed w^ith 
at least five nails ; otherwise, when they become a little wet, they 
will expand, and the middles, or edges, will rise or "bulge up." 
If well nailed they will make a neat roof; and if kept well coated 
w4th tar, will be serviceable a hundred years. (See Painting 
Roofs, next Vol.) 

WALLS AND LATH. 

37. "When the sides of a room or that part overhead are 
lathed with lath of ordinary length, wherever the lath break joint 
for a foot or two, there will be a crack in the wall. In order to 
remedy this cracking of the walls, the strips of lath should extend 
entirely across the room. TVhen a house is lathed in this manner, 
there will be no cracks in the plastering across the lath. 

38. The lath for my house were all sawed with a two-horse 
railway power, with a circular saw one foot in diameter, out of 
basswood plank, which was about an inch and a quarter thick. 
The lath were saw^ed, about three-eighths of an inch thick, very 
true ; and there is not a place in the entire house where the lath 
break joint ; and, consequently, not a crack to be found across 
the lath. This is a very economical way to procure lath ; and 
they are usually much better than those that are purchased. 
Have the logs sawed into plank an inch and one-fourth thick, as 
long as the width of the widest room ; and let them be sawed up 
into lath before they are seasoned, as they will not saw so hard. 
Such work should be performed when the business of the farm 
does not demand attention. 

39. Mortar. — No one can reasonably expect to have good walls 
unless they are made of the best of mortar ; and good mortar 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 



45 



cannot be obtained, however good the materials may be of which 
it is made, unless it is most thoroughly worked over and over again 
for a number of successive months, before it is laid on the lath. 
It is a very laborious job to work over the mortar for a large 
house, when it is performed by hand labor. "When lime and 
sand are mingled together, and in a few days laid on the lath, 
the plaster will shrink and the wall will be covered with cracks, 
and the plaster will soon crumble off. But if about two bushels 
of clean, sharp sand is mixed with one bushel of unslacked lime, 
and the mass is worked over once in two or three weeks for a 
few months, a wall that is made of it will appear like slate ; and 
will not crack unless the building or some parts of it change their 
position, as is frequently the case by seasoning. In order to have 
good mortar, that may be spread like good butter, it must be 
mixed and worked over often enough to have the lime slack 
most thoroughly, and "to work the shrinkage out" If mortar 
should be worked over once in ten days for a year, it would be 
all the better for it, and would make a better wall. 

40. To facilitate the labor of mixing mortar so frequently as 
is desirable, when my house was erected I constructed a rude 

Fig. 6. 




M-VCHIXE FOR MIXING MORTAB. 



machine for mixing it with horses, which subserved an excellent 
purpose, and which is represented by Fig. 6. It is a very cheap 
concern, and will pay for itself in one day. It consists of a post, 
a, about six inches in diameter, very firmly set in the ground, 



46 THE youNa farmer's manual. 

not less than three feet deep, and about two feet high. Put an 
iron band on the top to keep it from sphtting. An iron bar, J, 
(a small crowbar will answer,) passes loosely through the sweep, 
c, into the centre post, a. Next, lay a floor — water level — on the 
ground, and nail the side boards, which should be sixteen or 
twenty inches wide, to stakes driven into the ground. The side 
boards should be placed in an octagonal form, as shown in the 
figure, although if the sides were circular it would be preferable. 
The floor should be about fourteen or sixteen feet in the clear. 
The sweep, c, should be six inches square in the middle, twenty 
feet long, and the ends may be made smaller or not. The pad- 
dles, or legs, should be made of hard wood, two by four inches 
square, firmly inserted in tlie sweep, c, with a two inch tenon^ 
about six inches apart, and so disposed that those on one side 
will not traverse in the tracks of those on the opposite side, but 
between them. The form of the legs is shown at E. They are 
made similar to the wings of a wind wheel, with the two corners* 
which are in a diagonal direction from each other, dressed off 
smoothly, so that each knife-like leg will work the mortar towards 
the centre. They should be not less than three-fourths of an 
inch thick after they are dressed out. If they are too thin they 
will break in mixing stiff mortar. 

41. Let the lime and sand be put in, and hitch a horse at each 
end of the sweep, and commence mixing as the water is poured 
in, until it is so soft that it will flow slowly, and the surface 
become level. Shovel the mortar from the corners into the 
middle every time it is worked out. When a large quantity of 
mortar is necessary, two or more places may be made, and the 
same sweep used for all of them. "When the sun shines, the 
mortar should be covered with boards. Keep the surface of the 
mortar covered with water, when not working it ; and if there 
should be too much water when it is to be worked over again, 
let it be dipped off. It should be worked over at least once in 
ten days, and should never be allowed " to set" or become so 
hard that it cannot be readily worked over with a trowel. It is 
better to have a horse at each end, because the strain will not be 



THE YOUNa farmek's manqal. 47 

as hard on the post in the centre, as it would be if the power is 
all applied at one end. Let the mortar be first mixed in the 
spring, and keep it well worked all summer ; and if there is as 
much lime in it as there should be, it will spread like butter, and 
make walls as smooth and hard as stone. These directions were 
followed, to the letter, in mixing the mortar for my present 
dwelling-house ; and some of it was worked over, once in ten or 
twelve days, for more than six months before it was used ; and 
my masons affirmed that they had never before handled mortar 
that spread so neatly, and made such firm walls. 

42. The hair should never be put in until a few days before 
the mortar is to be use-d, because the lime will destroy it. In 
separating the bunches of hair, some prefer to put it in a large tub, 
and allow it to soak for a few days, and then have it well stirred 
■until there are no bunches ; and some prefer laying it on a floor 
and whip it to pieces with an elastic whip. 

MOVING BUILDINGS. 

43. Buildings are very frequently located very inconveniently, 
both in regard to each other and to the fields of the farm, and 
removing them to a more desirable location, and arranging them 
more conveniently, appears, to most men, almost as impracticable 
as removing a mountain. I have known instances in which the 
task of removing a certain building, or cluster of buildings, seemed 
to the proprietor such a vast and expensive undertaking, that he 
has been almost ready to offer four times as much to have the 
job well performed, as the actual cost would be. When out- 
buildings are scattered here and there, if they are not erected on 
a substantial wall, the arrangement would suit the fancy of most 
men to have them conveniently arranged in a cluster, on sub- 
stantial foundations. 

44. The machinery for moving buildings has become so well 
perfected at the present day, that it costs comparatively but a few 
dollars to load a large building, and haul it fifty or a hundred 
rods, up hill or down, without injuring it in the least. If the sills 
are sound, a building can be loaded in a few hours; and if the 



48 THE YOUNG farmer's MANUAL. 

ground is firm and smooth, it can be hauled along with all 
desirable rapidity. When a building is so long that it would sag 
down in the middle when loaded, it can be cut in two, and the 
parts moved separately and placed together on the foundation. 
Many times when a building was not erected in one part, but in 
two or three united together, by putting timbers under the sills, 
and by balancing it correctly when loading it on the trucks, it 
may be removed with ease and safety. 

45. Proprietors of moving machines usually ask from four to 
six dollars per day for the machine, and one hand to work it. 
But they often work by the job ; and if the owner of a moving- 
machine is a faithful laborer, and a man of honest principles, it 
will always be the cheapest to employ him by the day. When 
a man has buildings to move, and he is not at all posted with 
regard to the time and expense of moving a certain building, un- 
principled fellows will often ask four times as much as would be 
a fair and honest price for a given job. 

46. I once built a good machine for moving buildings, and 
worked it a few years very successfully; and with four good 
hands and one horse, could load a large barn and move it eight 
or ten rods in one day. But small buildings can be moved with 
much greater facility. When a man has buildings of any kind 
to move, he should do it when the ground is dry and hard, as it 
costs nearly twice as much to move them when the ground is 
soft. If there is any manure around a building, it should all be 
removed ; and the ground over which the building is to be moved, 
should be levelled. One or two day's work in preparing the Avay 
and clearing up the rubbish, will often save a man ten dollars in 
moving one building. I have known some farmers to move their 
barns when all the manure which they had made in two years 
remained about them, which always proved a great obstruction in 
moving the buildings, and cost three times more than it would 
have cost had the manure been first removed. 

47. The art of moving buildings of all kinds has been so per 
fected, that in most of our large cities there are those who possess 
sufficient skill and machinery to move with safety, not only the 



THE YOUNG FARMERS MANUAL. 



49 






heaviest wooden buildiugs, but those that are built of brick, and 
which are computed to weigh three hundred tons. 

MANNER OF FRAMING THE MIDDLE BENTS OF A LARGE BARN. 

48. The importance ■^^^' '' 

of having large build- 
ino;s framed in such 
a manner that the sides 
will not be thrust late- 
rally by the rafters, has 
already been alluded 
to in par. 17. Fig. 7 
represents a style of 
framing the middle 
bents, which is very 
convenient and efB- 
cient ; and I have 
never seen it laid down 
in any treatise on archi- 
tecture. As purline 
beams are many times 

very much in the way kann-er of framing tue middle bents of a large barn-. 

they may be dispensed with entirely. The girts which connect 
the tops of the middle post to the purline posts, should be of strong 
timber ; and the tenons should extend through each post ; and 
one edge of the tenons be fitted to a dove-tail mortise, and keyed 
tight instead of being pinned. The braces a a, at the foot of the 
purline posts, should be nearly as large as the purline posts ; and 
should face on the opposite sides from the girts. Should the 
purline posts be not less than twelve feet long, a beam might be 
framed in ; and there would be sufficient room to pitch with a 
horse pitch-fork, both under and over the purline beam. If the 
doors are so arranged that teams are driven length ways of the 
barn or across it, the framing will be nearly the same in both 
cases. Very large buildings may be framed in this manner ; and 
if the work is well performed the sides will not spread one-fourth 



V ^'k y 



50 



THE YOUNG farmer's MANUAL. 



of an inch. "When a barn is framed in this manner with purline 
beams, the boss must remember not to pin one of the outside 
posts when raising the building, until after the purline posts have 
been put up ; because the girts which connect the purline posts 
with the main posts, cannot be put in after both of the main posts 
have been pinned ; unless one end of one of the girts is framed 
without a shoulder, so that it may be run through one post and 
then brought back to its place and pinned. If the barn is very 
wide there should be two middle posts instead of one, placed far 
enough apart for the width of the floor. 



MANNEE OF FRAMING A CORN-HOUSE. 



Fig. 8. 49. Fig. 8 represents a 

very good style of framing 
the bents of a corn-house. 
The figure represents one 
of the bents. A A are 
the spaces for cribs; and 
should not be more than 
three feet wide at the bot- 
tom, and as high as may 
be desired. The bents 
should be placed about 
three feet apart, with girts 
between them not more than 
three feet apart, to which 

MOOT IMPROVED MANNER OF FRAMING AN INDIAN CORN- ''^^ SlatS arC tO DC nailcd. 

^°^^^" The space B is for the 

door or threshing floor, which should be tight for holding shelled 
corn. This space should be not less than seven feet wide with 
doors at each end of the building, so that a wagon loaded with 
corn ears can be driven through it. The upper floor should be 
made of slats or narrow boards, laid half an inch apart, for hold- 
ing the poor corn. If the corn is not sorted in the field, it can 




THE YOUNG farmer's MANUAL. 51 

all be shovelled on the second floor ; and the best corn thrown 
into the cribs from above. The most convenient way to get the 
corn out of the cribs is, to have a little door at the bottom of the 
cribs, on the inside, when the ears will come out as fast as thej 
are shovelled away ; and not more than two or three bushels 
will come out at one time. In dry weather, let the doors be 
kept open for the purpose of drying the corn. The frame may 
stand on a smoothly-built stone wall, or on stone pillars, or on 
pillars built of brick, or on wooden posts, covered with tin or 
zinc, to prevent the rats and mice climbing up the posts. Rats 
will jump sometimes three feet high ; and if there is nothing but 
stone, or zinc, or tin, for them to ascend upon, they will not be 
able to enter a building. When an abutment is made at either 
or both of the doors, it should be at least four feet from the 
building ; and a plank bridge, hung on hinges on one side, and 
the other side kept turned up against the building by a weight 
attached to one end of a rope, which passes over a pulley, and 
the other end attached to the bridge. The lower end of a flight 
of stairs may be kept up in the same manner. 



BALLOON FRAMES. 

50. In localities where hewn timber is scarce, every expedient 
must be resorted to in erecting buildings, in order to save un- 
necessary expense. Necessity and economy are the ostensible 
authors of the well-tested principle (which is no longer looked 
upon as an experiment which will most certainly fail) which has 
been for a score or more of years, successfully applied in erecting 
buildings of every description, which have received the sarcastic 
and technical appellation of " balloon framesP They are erected 
without a stick of frame timber, or posts, or beams ; without 
mortises, or tenons, or braces ; and if erected in a workmanlike 
manner, the most incredulous need not hesitate to adopt this 
mode of building a most elegant house ; for they will stand as 
firmly in a violent tornado as any framed building ; and could be 



62 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

moved from one place to another, or turned up on one side, with- 
out any more danger of injuring them than there would be if 
they were framed. I am aware that those — even good mechan- 
ics — who have always been accustomed to nothing but heavy 
frame timber, will scout at such a building, and, without any 
hesitancy, prognosticate that it would go to the winds before it 
could be half finished. But any good engineer who is at all 
acquainted with the strength of lyiaterials — if he has never before 
heard of such a mode of building, will unhesitatingly pronounce 
it a most complete triumph over the costly manner of building 
with heavy frame-timber ; and that such buildings may be safely 
'''■taken up hy the hair,''^ and tumbled about like a huge box. 

51. Such buildings require just as much siding, and lath, and 
roofing materials, and joists, and it will cost just as much to 
inclose them, and finish them off; but any mechanic who can 
make a window frame and hang a door, and nail two pieces of 
timber together at right angles, can erect such a building without 
the assistance of a boss. 

52. The lumber for a balloon frame may be sawed of any 
desired dimensions ; but for an ordinary building, the studs should 
never be less than four inches wide ; and the joists should be 
not less than eight inches wide if sixteen feet long ; and for 
twelve-feet joists seven inches wide is sufficient ; and for rooms 
eight feet wide joists six inches wide will be sufficiently wide. 
The foundation must be as permanent and substantial as for a 
brick building. Now, lay a joist on the foundation walls on 
every side for the sills, and halve the corners together, and nail 
them well. Joists two inches by eight will be sufficiently large, 
although there can be no objection to using sills of timber or 
larger joists. Now, if the rooms are to be nine feet between 
joints, and the upper and lower joists eight inches wide, and the 
building is to be two stories or more high, make a pattern for 
the studs of a half-inch board, just ten feet and four inches long, 
with a gain cut in it, just at the under side of the upper joists, 
an inch deep and four inches wide. If the building is to be 
covered with vertical siding, gains must be cut in the outside of 



THE YOUNG FARMEE's MANUAL. 



63 



J 



t 



the studs an incli deep and four inches wide. Fig. 9 represents 
a stud pattern with two gains in the outside and Fig. 9. 
one in the inside of it. Now, mark off all the 
studs like the pattern, marking the ends with a 
right angle or square mark. Now, with a horse- 
saw saw off the ends square, and saw the gains, 
and split out the blocks, and saw the joists of a 
given length. Now, take two studs and two 
joists — one joist for the lower floor and one for 
the upper floor — and nail the studs and joists 
together at right angles. Now, raise it as a bent 
of a fr^imed building is raised. Plumb it and 
" stale-aft " it, so that it will keep in a perpendicu- 
lar position. One man and a boy is all that is 
needed. Now, nail two more joists and two 
studs together, and set them up about one foot 
apart in the clear. See that the studs stand 
plumb both ways, before they are nailed ; and be 
careful to have the edges of the joists exactly 
even with the ends of the studs, and the upper 
end of the inside o-ains even with the under edsre 

*-■ ° A STUD PATTERN FOR 

of the joists over head. After the studs and balloon houses. 
joists have been set up, fit ribs in the gains on the outside for the 
purpose of nailing the siding to, and on the inside for sustaining 
the joists of the upper floor. The ends of the lower joists will 
rest on the top of the foundation sticks, into which nails should 
be driven diagonally through the corners of both studs and 
joists. If a building is to be but one story and a half high, the 
studs may extend to the roof, and the joists be nailed to the sides 
of them, as before. Now, nail a joist on the top ends of the 
studs for a plate, and put up the rafters, being careful to have 
the rafters rest directly over the studs. If a two-story house is 
to be erected, erect one story as already recommended, having 
the upper ends of the studs even with the top of the joists. 
Nail a piece as wide as the studs on the tops of them, and erect 
another story, nailing the lower ends of the studs into the strips 



54 



THE YOUNG FAKMER's MANUAL. 



Fig. 10. 



on which they stand. On each side of the doors and windows 

studs four inches wide should be 
used. If a building is erected 
with an attic story, collar joists 
should be nailed to the rafters 
near the lower ends, to keep the 
building from spreading. If the 
studs should not extend more 
than one or two feet above the 
attic floor, collars on the rafters 
will not be necessary. The raft- 
ers should be notched on the plate, 
and should extend beyond the side 
of the building ; and the lower 
ends may be planed and painted ; 
and the under side of the roof- 
boards planed and painted ; or 
the rafters may be ceiled on the 
under side of them ; or finished 
with a plain projection or cor- 

A CHEAP CORNICE FOB A BAIXOON HOUSE. -[ilQQ^ aS sllOWU by Fig. 10, whlch 

will require less than half the amount of lumber and labor; 
and in the eyes of many people, present a more desirable appear- 
ance as a cheap cornice. 

53. Some builders line or ceil such buildings on the inside with 
rough, second or third quality of lumber; and then lath and 
plaster, which gives a building additional strength, but it is by no 
means necessary, Where vertical siding is used, some ceil or 
line the outside of the studs. Some place the studs just twelve 
inches apart, and fill between them with brick laid in lime and 
mortar. But when good clay can be obtained, it will subserve 
about as good purpose as lime mortar. Some tenon the ends of 
the studs, and mortise the sills and plates ; but it is useless, as 
they will never move if well nailed. If the timber is hard wood, 
holes, just large enough for the nail to drive in tight, and not 
split either studs or joists, should be bored for the nails through 




THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 55 

one stick only. Use nails just long enough to extend through 
the studs and joists, and drive in twice the number of small nails 
that would be necessary of large nails, which would protrude 
through two inches. 

54. When a balloon frame is not built on a substantial wall, 
the superstructure should be erected on sills eight inches thick. 
No young farmer need hesitate to build after this style ; for there 
are more than thirty thousand of such buildings in the Western 
countries ; and they give most complete satisfaction. Almost 
any kind of timber may be used for studs and joists ; and if a 
man is possessed of but a small amount of mechanical skill, he 
can get his frame timber all sawed in the winter, and dress out 
the siding, &c., when he cannot labor on the farm, and if he is a 
good economist, his house or building will not cost three times 
more than it ought to cost for the labor alone. 

55. When such a house is erected by the job, the young 
farmer should not neglect to see that not less than five good nails 
are driven in at the junction of each joist and stud ; and that 
every other part of the frame is well nailed. 

HOW TO INCREASE THE HEIGHT OF EOOMS WHEN THEY ARE 

TOO LOW. 

56. It is frequently very desirable to make the rooms, both 
below and above, one foot or more higher between the joints 
than it was originally made. When the attic story is to be made 
higher, if the roof is a poor one, it would be the best and cheapest 
operation to take it to pieces and raise the sides to the desired 
height ; and then erect the roof as when a new house is built. 
But when a roof is a good one, and it is desirable to raise it any 
number of feet, let collar pieces be spiked to the rafters to keep 
them from spreading, and then raise it bodily with screws, with 
or without the plates, to the desired height. If the rafters are 
spiked very tightly to the plates, it will be better to raise the 
plates with the roof, and then put another set of plates in the 
place of the first ones. 

57. I once performed a job in less than one day, by the as- 

3 



66 THE YOUNG FARMEE's MANUAL. 

sistance of two men, of increasing the height of all the lower 
rooms of a two-story house. The lower rooms were eight and a 
half feet between joints, and it was desirable to make them ten 
feet high. Four screws were paced under the side sills of the 
house, two of them a few feet from one end, and two others about 
the middle of the building. One end of the house was elevated 
about twenty inches, when it was sustained on shores, placed 
under the beams, and girts. The sills and floor were then low- 
ered with the screws to their original position, when the ends 
of the post and studs at one end of the building were all scarfed, 
or "spliced," and the sills were then raised again with the screws, 
and the shores were taken out, and the building was then lowered 
on the foundation. Then the two end screws were paced near 
the other end, and that end was elevated and sustained on shores, 
and the floor lowered, and the remainder of the posts and studs 
were scarfed, and the shores were then removed, and the house 
lowered to its original position. 

58. Barns and outbuildings which are too low, may be raised, 
in a short period of time, ten or more feet higher ; and the posts 
scarfed at an expense of a few dollars. If the spaces below the 
main beams of a barn are about right, let the roof only be raised ; 
but if the arrangement of the timbers is about as one desires, 
above, and not below the beams, raise the superstructure and 
scarf the posts, or put a part of a new frame beneath the old one. 
(See Painting Buildings in the next vol.) 



CHAPTER n. 

FENCING. 

*' Swift from the rural shades, Muses, bring 
^ • Your wonted aid, while of the Fence we sing 1 

And let the fence our fathers built of rails, 
With stakes and posts and boards, or logs or pales, 
Close up the long-neglected gaps." — Ingersoll. 

59. If there is any one thing more than another which is a 
source of constant anxiety and unremitting care to the farmer, it 
is the erection of suitable fences for enclosing his own grounds for 
the purpose of excluding lawless intruders, or keeping his own 
animals within proper bounds. Wherever a farm may be located, 
or whatever may be its productions, /ewce, /ence, /ence, is the first, 
the intermediate, and the last consideration in the whole routine of 
the operations of the farm. Erecting new fences and repairing 
old ones, and laying up a rail here, and fastening a loose board 
there, is sometliing that demands the vigilance of the farmer, 
from the commencement to the close of the year. If there is a 
day, or a number of days, when the laborers of the farm have 
arrived at a point when they do not seem to know what to do to 
advantage and profit, they can almost always find something con- 
nected with the enclosures of the farm, the performance of which 
will be a work of some profit and economy, and sometimes of 
very great convenience. In the winter and spring, in summer 
and in autumn, on stormy days and leisure days, and parts of 
days, if all the plans of the farm are wisely laid, something may 
be done at fences or gates, or bar-posts or bars. But few farmers 
have any proper idea of the expense attending the fencing of a 

(57) 



58 THE YOUNG FAEMER'S MANUAL. 

farm of one or two hundred acres, wlien performed in an efficient 
and workmanlike manner; and could they see at a glance, in 
dollars and cents, the amount expended in their fences, they 
would be disappointed beyond measure. As a general rule, so 
changeable and perishable are the materials of which fences are 
built, that the expense of keeping them in good repair, from year 
to year, consumes a much greater amount of the income of the 
farm than we feel willing to appropriate for that purpose. But 
fences must be erected at all events, .and any thing that will 
reflect light on the subject of fencing the farms of America, in 
the most systematic and permanent manner, will be welcomed by 
every one who is experimentally acquainted with the enormous 
expenses which attend enclosing the fields of a farm, before it 
would be prudent to commence the cultivation of the soil. 

60. Fencing is a branch of labor, in the operation of the farm, 
which requires the exercise of a good deal of wisdom and judg- 
ment in selecting, preparing, arranging, and disposing of the 
materials which are to be made use of in building fences in the 
most economical, workmanlike, substantial and durable manner ; 
and as economy, durability and substantialness are the most im- 
portant considerations, as a general rule, in building a fence of 
any kind, and as there is a variety of materials to be worked up 
into fences, the preparation of materials demands our first atten- 
tion. It cannot be denied that there is a vast destitution of eco- 
nomy, not only in preparing the materials for fencing, but in 
working up those materials. The very best of materials, when 
improperly prepared, fail to make an economical and substantial 
fence ; and, also, the best of fencing materials, when unskillfuUy 
arranged and worked up, make a fence far inferior, in almost 
every respect, to a fence made of materials of a very inferior 
quality, which has been well made. As economy in preparing 
timber for fencing is an object of the first importance, when the 
materials are of wood, we shall speak of the best and most suita- 
ble time for cutting timber, in order to secure its greatest dura- 
bility, when it is to be split into rails, as well as when it is to be 
split into posts and stakes. 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 59 



THE BEST TIME TO CUT TIMBEB. 

When autumn comes, and leaves are dry, 

And rustle on the ground, 
And chilling winds go whistling by, 

With moaning, pensive sound, 
Cut timber then for posts, and beams, and rails, 
For tongues, and thills, for whippletrees and stales." 

61. Late autumn is the best time for felling timber for almost 
any purpose ; and it is particularly so when timber is to be 
worked up into rails, or stakes, or posts for fencing. At that 
season of the year, the new wood has arrived at its most complete 
maturity, and there is less sap and albumen in timber then than 
there is at any other season of the year, which albumen, when 
exposed to the influence of the weather, hastens the decay of 
timber. If timber be cut and split out in the latter part of autumn 
the seasoning process is much more gradual and perfect,, because 
the grain of the timber contracts more equally and uniformly, 
rendering the timber firmer and less porous, and less cracked and 
checked than when it is cut at many other seasons of the year. 
Besides this, timber that is cut in late autumn and splj^ out or 
sawed out before spring, will not " powder post," nor be injured by 
the worms working in it, nor be injured by the dry rot, as is the case 
with timber many times, which has been cut at some other season 
of the year. Fence posts and stakes particularly, no matter what 
the kind of timber may be, when felled and split out in late autumn, 
will outlast other posts and stakes of the same kind of timber 
which may be cut at a diflerent season of the year, by several 
years, according to the time when it may be cut. Reason teaches 
us that this is so, and the experience of the most successful ex- 
periments in timber furnish the most indubitable testimony to 
substantiate this fact. 

62. The treatment which timber receives immediately after it 
has been felled, effects its durability, and also its firmness and 
tenacity, to a much greater degree than many are wont to suppose. 
For this reason many farmers in experimenting on the durability 
of timber, have failed, almost entirely, to allow this consideration 



60 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

to have any influence at all. If timber which is intended for 
rails, stakes and posts be felled in late autumn, and allowed to 
remain in the log for six or eight months, or half that length of 
time, with some kinds of timber, its durability will be more or 
less affected, according to the kind of timber; and no after- 
treatment will make it as durable as it would have been, had it 
been split out immediately and placed in a favorable situation for 
seasoning. Timber for posts or stakes ought always to be split 
out and seasoned nearly or quite one year before they are set in 
the ground. A post or stake which is set in the ground when it 
is green, will not last half as many years, as a general rule, as it 
would have lasted if it had been seasoned well before it is set in 
the ground. The first thing, after timber has been felled, is to 
split it out into rails, posts and stakes ; therefore, as a very im- 
portant branch of fencing, we shall treat of 

SPLITTING RAILS, STAKES AND POSTS. 

63. It requires the exercise of a little good skill to split timber 
economically into rails, stakes or posts. Any one who can handle 
a beetle and wedge, can split fire-wood, for it matters little how 
that is split ; but if a man does not know how to split timber straight, 
lie will be very liable, and, indeed, very likely to spoil a vast deal 
-if timber when splitting up a tree. The truth is, if he does not 
know how to stick the wedges, and where to stick them, he will 
be very apt to make bad work, even in the best of timber, for 
splitting well. When we split fire wood, we cleave it the best 
way that we can, and if it slivers to pieces, so much the better. 
But there is a regular rule for splitting rails, stakes, posts, wagon 
spokes, staves, and every thing else, and if one does not observe 
this rule, he will, most assuredly, spoil much timber. If in split- 
ting any thing for fences, some pieces have huge ends at one end, 
and are run out to a mere splinter at the other end ; or if they 
are not all of about a uniform size, if the operator does not under- 
stand his business, and if he makes many short pieces, it would 
be the wisest policy to employ some one else who will not waste 
so much timber. 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 61 

64. In splitting timber for anything, it is best to set the 
■wedges always at the smallest or top end of a log, should there 
be any difference in the ends. If there are no large checks across 
the end of a log, take the axe in one hand, and the beetle in the 
other, and make a crack entirely across the end of the log, so as 
to split it into two equal parts. If there is a large crack a part 
of the way across the end, drive in the axe a little with the beetle, 
so as to make a crack entirely across the end. Generally speak- 
ing, timber splits the best and wastes the least, by setting the 
wedges in an old crack or seam. But sometimes a log will sepa- 
rate much the easiest directly across the old check. Now, set two 
iron weflges in the end of the log, and drive them both together, 
and when the end is opened sufficiently, drive in gluts ; if the 
wedges have been set in the middle of the end, the log will sepa 
rate usually in the middle. Should it vary a little from following 
the middle of the log, it is better to let it go where it will than to 
undertake to open it at the other end, so as to meet the operation, 
which is attended with doubt and difficulty. Sometimes it is 
almost impossible to split a log through the heart. This is the 
case many times with black ash, and elm, and buttonwood. Logs 
many times have a seam entirely around the heart. When this 
is the case, it will require a vast deal of unnecessary pounding to 
split it through the heart. Such logs can be worked up far more 
easily and economically by slabbing them, following the old seams ; 
and many times when a log has a very tough heart, even if there 
be no checks nor seams, it is best to split them by slabbing off 
about one-third of the log at once ; this will leave, in a log thirty 
inches in diameter, a heart piece about ten inches square. If, 
now, the timber be very tough and stringy, this may be worked 
up by slabbing it. In splitting ordinary timber, the builder must 
keep in mind that a round stick or a square stick cannot, very 
well, be split into three equal parts ; because, if we attempt to 
split off one-third of it at a time, the smaller part is very apt to 
run out before the split reaches the other end. Therefore, if a 
square stick be about large enough for three rails, it is best to 
split it through the centre, and then split the two halves of it in 



62 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

the centre again, even if tlie rails should be a little too small, than 
to undertake to spht it into three equal parts ; or if such a stick, 
when split into four rails, would make them too small, it would 
be best to make but two of it, even if they were a little larger 
than we could desire. "We cannot always have every rail, stake 
or post exactly of the size we may wish, but the aim should 
always be, in splitting rails, to have the smallest rails equal to a 
stick two and a half inches square, and increasing in size, so that 
the largest rails will be equal to a stick four inches square. This 
is a very good rule to split by, but if thought to be exceptionable, 
it is very easy to split in two those rails which A says are of the 
right size, and which B thinks are too large for one rail, and just 
right for two. A rail about three inches square, or equivalent to 
that size, will be pronounced by the great majority of farmers to 
be a more desirable size, so far as economy and convenience are 
concerned, than a rail of any other size. "When a man has a 
saw-mill of his own, and timber does not split very well, it might 
be good policy to saw out his rails, making them about three 
inches square ; — but the same timber would build twice as much 
fence if it were sawed into boards. 

65. Sometimes rails are split out of poles, which will make 
from two to eight rails each ; and it often occurs that a pole would 
make about three good rails, and if split into four they would be 
too small, and if split into two rails they would be rather large. 
As it is very difficult, and usually impracticable, to split a pole 
into three, or five, or seven equal parts, on account of their liability 
to run out in splitting, if a pole be too small for four rails, it is 
best to make but two of it, even if they should be rather large. 
"When a pole is about the right size for six rails, the best way is 
to split the pole into quarters, as nearly as we can, and many 
,times one of the quarters will be large enough for two rails. The 
idea should be always kept in mind, that the rule which is observed 
in riving staves, wagon-spokes, and such like, is, to split a stick 
through the middle^ and then take a smaller piece and split that 
through the middle, and so on until every piece or bolt is reduced 
to its desirable size. When a log or rail cut will make about 




THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAJ.. 63 

eight good rails, the true way is to quarter it first, and then spHt 
those quarters in two. If we attempt to split off of one side one 
rail, in most timber it would }3e sure to run out before it would 
split half the length of the log. The following cuts will furnish 
the learner with a more correct idea how a large log is to be split 
into rails, stakes, or posts. In the first place, split the log into 
quarters, if practicable, whether it is to be split into rails, stakes, 
or posts. Fig. 1 1 represents one of those quarters split into rails. 
After a log has been spHt into quarters, split j^iq., U^ 

the quarter in two again, as nearly in the 
middle as may be. If the workman cannot 
stick his wedge within half an inch of tlie 
centre of a quarter of a log at sight, he had 
better measure the distance. Now split these 
pieces, first in the direction a a a, then split 
off the heart rail b b, then split c c, and we 
have three rails. Split the other heart piece, quarter of log sput into 
like the first, into three rails ; split the sap ^"^' 

pieces at d, and split each piece at e e. Sometimes it is better to 
set the wedge in the middle of a stick, half-way from each end, 
then to set it at the end, when splitting a piece that will make two 
rails, as at c c, for example. "When a wedge is set half-way from 
each end, in the middle of the stick, if the crack does not run in 
the middle, each way from the wedge, sometimes a blow or two 
with an axe will start it, so as to make it split in the middle ; and 
sometimes it is necessary to set another wedge half-way between 
the middle and the end. A httle practice will enable the builder, 
if he has a little good skill, to split timber very accurately, with- 
out spoiling but few pieces. The same rules are observed in 
splitting stakes as in splitting rails; only it is necessary, first, in 
splitting a quarter, to make a little estimate how many pieces a 
quarter or an eighth of a log will make. In splitting fence 
posts it frequently occurs that a piece is too large for one post, 
and too small for two posts. In such a case, if a stake cannot be 
split ofi" without its running out, it is best not to attempt to split 
it again, lest both pieces be spoiled. 
3*^ 



64 THE YOUNG FAKMEK'S MANUAL. 

66. In splitting bar-posts, or any pieces that are required to 
be thin and wide, first spHt the log in two, and if it is a large one 
quarter it. Make calculations how many posts a quarter will 
make, splitting from the heart to the bark. If a quarter w411 
make four, spht it in the centre, and these pieces again in the 
centre. If they are wider than necessary, take off a stake from 
the heart side, as at Fig. 12. If half a log will make about six 
posts, it is not best to quarter it first, because YiQ. 12. 

each piece then would contain timber enough 
for three posts each, and there would be dan- 
ger of spoiling a post in attempting to split 
only one post from a stick which is large 
enough for three ; therefore, divide the half 
log into three equal parts, and first split off a 
piece large enough for two posts, and then 
split the pieces in two in the middle. The posts. 

workman would do well, after opening the end a little, to set -a 
wedge or two in the side of the stick, to prevent its running 
out, and drive all the wedges at once, or drive that wedge the 
most which seems to split the truest and straightest. "When tim- 
ber is not inclined to split exactly straight, by tracing it with the 
axe and beetle the whole length of the stick it can be made to 
split tolerably straight. In splitting a log eight or ten inches in 
diameter into bar-posts, or any otlier wide posts, make an esti- 
mate how many a log will make ; if it will make four, split it 
through the centre, and then, by tracing or starting it a little with 

Fig. 13. 




MANNER OF SPUmNQ B.VR- 




MANNER OF SPUmNG A LOG INTO FOUR POSTS. 

the axe and beetle on the side, the two halves may be split in 
two again the wide way, as represented by Fig. 13. Fig. 14 



THE YOUNG FARMKR's MANUAL. 65 

shows how a log may be split into three bar-posts by tracing on 
the sides as the wedges are driven in the end. We first take ofif 
a slab, and if the timber does not split rather freely it is very lia- 

FiG. 14. 




MANNER OF SPUTTING A LOG I.VTO THRKE BAR-POSTS. 

ble to run out and spoil a post. It is very impracticable to give 
a perfect idea on paper of splitting timber correctly. 

THE LENGTH OF RAILS AND STAKES. 

67. The most common length for rails is twelve feet, although 
many farmers make them ten, eleven, and even fourteen feet in 
length ; but when we consult convenience and economy in split- 
ting and handling, as a general rule twelve feet for rails is the 
best length. If timber should split very freely, there is no objec- 
tion to cutting them fourteen feet long ; on the contrary, if timber 
should not split well it might be a matter of good economy to cut 
them ten or eleven feet long ; but there ought to be a uniform 
length for rails on every farm, because when rails are of different 
lengths there will be more or less disadvantage in making them 
into a fence. Large logs should be sawed in two, just twelve 
feet long, and smaller logs may be cut with an axe ; and as every 
rail cut should be measured with a pole just twelve feet long, 
each cut should be measured from the middle of the chip, or axe- 
cut, and the top end of each cut should be left square ; this will 
make the heart rails a little longer than the outside rails. But in 
laying the foundation for a fence^ if there should be a little varia- 
tion in the length of rails, it should be remembered to select first 
the sap rails, and if the heart rails project a little more than is 
necessary at the joints, it will do no harm. 

68. The length of stakes should always 1)6 regulated l^y the 



QQ THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

height of the fence. They are usually cut from seven to nine 
feet in length ; but whatever length may be adopted, it should be 
kept in mind that stakes should be cut long enough to admit of 
being set the second time, after the end which has been set in the 
ground has rotted off. The part of stakes out of the ground will 
usually last twice as long as the part in the ground, no matter 
what the timber may be. Therefore, if stakes be cut just long 
enough to be set but once, after one end is decayed, so that they 
need re-setting, they are worthless ; but by cutting them long 
enough to be set again after a foot or so has rotted, it is much 
more economical than to make new stakes as often as the ends 
rot or decay enough to render them too short for the fence. 

69. Some farmers deem it a matter of economy to cut their 
fence posts, and particularly bar-posts, long enough to admit of 
the other end being set in the ground after one end has decayed. 
But there are very plausible objections to this practice. Fence 
posts which extend from two to three feet above the fence present 
an unsightly appearance, and, besides, the longer the post is the 
more liable it is to deviate from standing erect. Bar-posts which 
extend three feet higher than they ought to are a nuisance, because 
they are always in the way, especially when one is passing with 
a load of hay or grain. 

PEELING BAILS AND STAKES. 

70. This should always be done when they are split out, so 
that they may season the better. It requires but a little time to 
peel them when splitting them, and as rails and stakes are often 
split by the job, at so much per hundred, a man will usually split 
them, peel them, and stick them up, for a few cents more per hun- 
dred than he will ask for simply splitting them, providing one in- 
sists on it when negotiating about splitting. When timber is cut 
in the fall, it is true, it does not peel as well as when cut in the 
summer, but as a general rule it will peel tolerably well after it is 
split out, even when cut in autumn. When the bark is thick and 
heavy it will peel about as well from small pieces, like rails and 
stakes, as it will when the timber is cut in the summer. But 



THE YOUNG FARMER S MANUAL. ^7 

the bark should be taken off at some rate ; and when it adheres 
so tightly that it is necessary to cut it off, it may be cut off at 
each end about a foot or so and laid in the fence, with the bark 
downwards^ and during the summer it will usually become so loose 
as to drop off itself; but if it is not held in the joints of the fence, 
it may be stripped off very readily after one end is loosened a 
little, and if the rail be laid with the bark down it will become 
loose by the drying of the rail. When rails are made of timber 
having a very thin bark, like iron-wood, for example, the most 
expeditious way of peeling them is to lay the rail to be peeled on 
a couple of benches, and then with a drawing-lniife shave off the 
bark ■jp'hile the workman is sitting on it. When small poles are 
used for rails, if they are not peeled entirely a strip of bark should 
be taken off on two sides opposite to each other, and one of the 
peeled sides laid upward in the fence ; by this means the bark 
will become loose during the season, and many times drop off 
itself. Rails, stakes, posts, and timber of every other description, 
will be very much more durable if peeled, unless it is buried in 
the ground. When a stick is two feet or more under ground, it 
will last much longer if the bark be left on ; but if the bark be 
left on a fence post, the j)art of it two feet below the surface 
will be more durable with the bark on than if it were off. But 
that same post will rot off at the surface of the ground many years 
sooner if the bark was left on than if it was peeled before it 
was set. Bark preserves timber when it is alive, but after it 
has been cut down it hastens its decay, when it is exposed to the 
influences of the weather, wet and dry. When the bark is not 
taken off, worms damage rails and posts of many kinds of timber. 
Allowing rails to soak in a pond of water for a few days will gen- 
erally loosen the bark so that it may be peeled off very quickly. 

DISTRIBUTING EAILS FOB FENCE. 

71. It is a very common thing for many farmers, in hauling 
rails and stakes where a fence is to be made, to distribute them, 
as to number, entirely at random, without any calculation at all 
how many will be needed for a fence of a given number of rails 



68 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

high, and therefore in some places twice as many rails are un- 
loaded as are necessary, while in other places there are not half 
enough. Sometimes there may be just enough to build the fence, 
but they have been distributed so unevenly that many of them 
must be carried too far. When a man is obliged to go twenty 
or thirty feet for every rail, it will take him twice as long to lay 
up a fence as it would were the rails left within a few feet of the 
place where they will be needed. It is a very easy matter to 
distribute rails for a fence so that there will be just enough to 
build it, and it argues a little stupidity and want of calculation to 
see one distribute rails in such a manner that after the fence is 
finished there are several loads to haul away. That is all lost 
labor ; and it will consume several hours to haul and unload, and 
reload and haul away, two or three loads of rails. 411 

72. In distributing rails for a fence, in the first place set a few 
stakes where the fence is to be built. Now calculate how many 
panels there will be in five or six rods. "We will say there are 
thirty paces in six rods. If the foundation is not laid, the rails 
may be laid for thirty paces or so, in a straight line, or zigzag, 
like a worm fence, and then, by counting the number of panels 
in thirty paces, and by multiplying the number of panels by the 
number of rails in one panel, we shall know how many rails are 
wanted in a distance of thirty paces. Now, let the number of 
rails required in thirty paces be distributed close to the place 
where the fence is to be made, and put them in small piles, with 
not more than ten in a pile, so that they will be near at hand, 
and be well spread out, so that small rails can be selected, if neces- 
sary, without tumbling over half a load. Never leave them with 
nearly a load in a pile, nor in the place where the fence is to be 
built, lest they have to be removed; nor a rod or two distant, 
for fear they may be in the way. Now pace off thirty paces 
more — ^it can be done in less than one minute — and drop as many 
more rails, and in the same order, and proceed in this manner 
until a job is finished. When the foundation, or the first rail is 
laid, it is a very easy matter to make calculations for hauling just 
enough to make a fence. 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 69 

73. Rails of one kind of timber should always be left to- 
gether, and rails of another kind of timber, unless they are 
equally durable, should be kept by themselves, because, when oak 
and basswood are laid together, the basswood will decay long 
before the oak, and the result will be, the entire fence must be 
repaired ; whereas, if the oak had been kept together, and the 
basswood together, no part would need repairing but the basswood. 
For the same reason, new rails should always be kept together, 
when repairing fence ; and take old ones to supply the place of 
those which have decayed. When one is hauling rails which 
are to be laid in a fence immediately, it is much quicker to take 
the rails from the wagon and lay them in the fence, than to throw 
them on the ground and then pick them up again and lay them 
in the fence. 

74. When the stakes are to be hauled let them be placed 
near each joint of the fence, with one on each side of it ; because 
it will save the time of picking them up. When the foundation 
is not laid, if we know how many panels there wnll be in a given 
distance, it is easy to calculate that two stakes will be required 
for each panel, whether the fence is to be zigzag or straight. 

FENCE BLOCKS. 

75. These are a very important item in building fence. It is 
very poor policy to place rails on the ground or on perishable 
materials which will soon let the fence down to the ground. 
Bowlders, from ten to twenty-five inches in diameter, make the 
best blocks. When one is a little too large, let a hole be dug a 
foot or so deep, and roll it in. When one is a little too small, 
put it on the top of a flat stone. A small pile of small bowlders, 
or little stones of any kind, will make a very good block for a 
corner to rest on. When wood is used for blocks, always place 
the bark side down, if possible, because they will last many years 
longer than if the bark side is up. When a round stick is 
used for a block, let it be peeled, if practicable ; but, if not, cut 
off a strip of bark, three or four inches wide, on one side, and 



70 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

lay tliat side up, and then, as it seasons, the bark will usually 
become loose, but if the bark be left on the top of blocks it will 
always hasten their decay. Sometimes a couple of good pieces of 
broken rails will make a very good fence block. Flat stones, a foot 
square, or more, laid on the top of a little mound of earth, or 
on the top of two or three sods, will make capital fence blocks. 
When one has a plenty of small stone, it is good policy to make 
a ridge of stone, a foot or so high, and lay the fence on the top 
of it. This will answer both for a straight fence and for a zig- 
zag fence. Where no stone can be found, and wooden blocks 
are scarce, make a fence block with square sods, and lay on a 
piece of board, or slab, or two or three short pieces of old rails. 
Let the fence he kept well up from the ground^ at all events. When 
a foundation corner is made of earth, or sods, the sides should be 
covered with sods, to prevent them from washing away in heavy 
showers. 



MAKING A ZIGZAG, OR WORM FENCE. 

76. In making a zigzag fence of rails, there are two modes of 
laying the bottom rail, by stakes, which I shall lay down, in order 
to have the fence straight. And when a fence is to remain for 
a number of years, or is to be a permanent fence, it ought always 
to be straight ; but in making a temporary fence, if a man is me- 
chanic enough to give the fence the necessary worm, he may lay 
the bottom rail by guess. But the beginner had better have 
some stakes to guide him ; because, if he does not, he will be sure 
to give some parts of it much more worm or crook than is 
necessary, and give other parts so little worm that it will barely 
stand alone. When a fence has too much worm, or crook, it is 
a good fault ; it will stand more firmly, — but it requires more rails. 
But when it has but little worm, it requires less rails ; and the 
first driving storm may throw it from its foundation, and prostrate 
it. 

77. The first step, then, will be, to set a number of small, thin 
stakes, six or seven feet high, in a line, where the middle of the 



THE YOUNG FAKMER's MANUAL. 71 

fence is to be made. Now make a fence rule, Fig. 1 5, which consists 
Fig. 15 ^^ ^ stick, either round or square, about seven feet 

in length, as large as a fork handle, and pointed 
at the lower end. If the ground be stony and 
hard, the lower end ought to be fitted to an iron 
socket, pointed. Bore several half-inch holes 
through it, for the rod R, which should be made 
of a verj tough piece of wood,' about as large 
and elastic as a good whip-stalk. This rod should 
be about three feet long; and then it may be 
graduated, by making a mark for two feet, and 
for two feet three inches, six, and nine inches. 
This rod should be merely pressed into a hole, 
without fastening it, so that when laying a foun- 



'■ B. ' ' dation on very high or low blocks, it may be 
raised or lowered, as may be necessary. Always 
work up hill, in laying any kind of rail fence ; 
A FE-vcE RULE. Ijecausc, wheu we begin at the bottom of a decHv- 
ity and work upwards, the rails will lay more level than the incli- 
nation of the ground; and, if we work doiun a declivity, the rails will 
be more inclined than the ground, and will not stand as firmly as if 
it were made by working up hill. When a string of fence extends 
over roUing or undulating land, the proper mode of making it is, 
to lay the bottom rail the whole distance, and then go back and 
change those corners in that part of the fence which was laid by 
beginning at the top a declivity, so that in laying up more rails 
the operator can work up hill, both ways, from a valley. The 
next thing in order will be to decide upon 

THE AMOUNT OF WORM, OR CROOK, FOR A FENCE. 

78. The length of rails must usually determine the amount of 
worm for a fence. Long rails require much more worm, or crook, 
than short ones, in order to have the corners of each kind of rails 
of the same angle. Suppose, for example, that rails are nine feet 
long, and we wish to give the fence which is made of them three 
feet worm, i. e., the fence will occupy, measuring across the fence, 



72 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

three feet of ground, from the centre of one joint to the other. 
Now, if rails are fourteen feet in length, in order to give the cor- 
ners the same angle of the nine feet rails, we must give these rails 
a crook of four feet eiarht inches, measurins: from the centre of 
one joint to a point opposite it, in a line with the joints on the 
other side of the fence. Where fence is to be staked, the rule for 
the amount of worm which is most commonly adopted is, that 
it be equal to one-third the length of the rails. This is enough 
for any fence that is well staked ; and where a fence will not be 
exposed to furious winds, it may answer just as good a purpose 
to give it less than one-third the length of the rails. But where a 
fence is not to be staked, and the rails are rather light, the worm 
should be increased so as to be at least five-twelfths the length 
of the rails, and sometimes even more than this. 

79. If the stakes. are all stuck in a line, plant the fence rule 
(Fig. 15) in a line with the stakes, where we are to commence 
laying the foundation, having the rod R standing at a right 
angle to the right or left of the line which would cut the fence 
rule staff and the stakes. If the fence is to have a worm of four 
feet, which is about right for rails twelve feet in length, place a 
fence block under the rod R, so that the centre of the block will 
be just under the two feet mark, from the rule staff. Lay on a 
good straight rail, and carry the rule forward ; and plant it down, 
in a line with the stakes, nearly opposite the other end of the rail, 
with the rod R extending in the opposite direction. Place a block 
beneath the two feet mark on the rod R, and lay on the end of the 
first rail, and then lay on another rail and carry the rule along, 
and lay another block in a line with the first block, and so on. 

80. Many fence-makers, in laying up rails, have the ends of 
the rails extend beyond the points of conjunction at the corners 
about one foot. But this practice uses up more rails than is neces- 
sary to build a fence a given number of rods in length; and, besides, 
when the ends of the rails extend beyond the joint from ten to 
twelve inches, a fence does not look as well, and is far more hable 
to be thrown down, by the whippletrees catching it, or cattle rub- 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 73 

bing against it. If the ends of the rails extend three or four inches 
beyond the joint, a fence is no more Hable to be thrown down than 
if the same rails extended a foot beyond the joint. It is very 
important that all the rails should lie, at the joints, one directly 
above the other. The smallest rails should always be laid at 
the bottom of the fence ; and the largest ones, if there be any 
difiference in the size of them, should be laid on the top, as heavy 
rails on the top render a fence, whether it is staked or not, much 
more substantial than if the large rails were in the middle of the 
panels, with small ones on the top. If there should be any differ- 
ence in the size of the ends of the rails, the large end should be 
laid ?rt the lowest corner. When there are many crooked rails, 
make a panel or two of crooked rails, placing those together that 
are of nearly a uniform crook. If there are but few crooked 
ones, reserve them for the top of the fence. After a fence is laid 
three or four rails high, if flat stones, three or four inches thick, 
are at hand, it is a good practice to lay one on each joint, as they 
will make the fence about one rail hisrher, and, at the same time, 
it will subserve just as good a purpose as if a rail was in the place 
of the stones. And another advantage is, flat stones laid on the 
joints will turn the w^ater from the joints, and render them more 
durable, as rails often rot at the joints in consequence of the wet 
finding its way there and not drying out. A large flat block of 
wood will answer for this purpose, in the absence of flat stone. 
Roundish stones in such a place would be liable to throw the fence 
down. Low corners of a fence may be brought up level with 
the others by laying on a flat stone between every two rails. 

81. Another mode of laying the foundation of a worm fence, 
which some people prefer to laying with a fence rule, is, to set 
two rows of small stakes the whole distance where the fence is 
to be built, with the row^s just as many feet apart as there is to 
be given to the worm of the fence. If the worm is to be four feet, 
set the rows four feet apart ; if the w^orm is five feet, set the rows 
of stakes five feet apart. Now lay a fence block in range with 
one of the rows of stakes, and lay on a rail diagonally from one 
row to the other: then lav another fence block in rano^e with 



74 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

the other row under the other end of the rail, and so on. In 
order to ascertain whether the block is in range with the stakes, 
stand in range with the stakes, and set a stick, about as large as 
a common fork-handle, perpendicularly^ on the top of the block 
before you, and if when it stands in the middle of the block it 
is in range with the stakes, the block is in the proper place. By 
placing the trying stake, or stick, in range with the rows, the 
workman will readily perceive which way the block, or corner, 
must be moved, in order to bring the corner in range with the 
stakes. 

82. There are other modes of" laying the foundation by stakes, 
but they are so inferior to those already mentioned that we 
shall omit to notice them. 

83. A common worm fence may be staked and capped, staked 
and ridered, staked and wired, locked and ridered, or it may 
merely be laid up without either stakes or riders or locks; but 
whichever mode is adopted, the operation of laying the foundation 
and of building the fence several rails high is the same in each 
kind of fence, with the exception that a staked fence does not 
require as much worm as one that is not staked. 

LOCK AND RIDER FENCE. 

84. Fig. 16 represents the manner of finishing a worm fence 
with locks and riders, which will resist the wind as well as some 
staked fences. The fence is first laid as many rails high as is 
desired ; and then the largest rails are laid in a straight line, 
from panel to panel, as in the figure. The locks may be good 
stakes, or pieces of TT 1 ft 

rails, placed in the ^^^ 

nook of the fence for- Ns. y<^^^ /^ 

med by two panels, ^ ^ 

and inclined into the 

corner formed by the 

top rail and rider. The ^^^^ ^^^ ^^^^^^ ^^nce. 

dots in the figure show about where the foot of the locks should 

be placed. The locks are not usually set in a hole in the ground, 





THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 75 

although if they were the fence would be stronger. Sometimes 
the riders in this kind of fence may be long poles, extending the 
distance of several panels. Long poles are much better than rails 
for riders. 

85. Another mode for locking a fence is shown by Fig. 17. 
The fence is first made as high as it is to be made, and then the 
locks, which may be of good rails, or stakes, or pieces of rails, are 

Fig. 17. 



:-o 



°-^ 


sP "^ 


^ 






A LOCK RAIL FEINCB. 



stuck in the ground, as shown by the dots, or circles, and leaned 
on the corners, as shown by the dotted lines. In locking in this 
manner the builder must exercise a little skill, if he has any, in 
regard to setting the locks so as to hind well. If they are not 
placed on the correct side of each other, they will not lock the 
fence, by wedging, any more than their own gravity will lock it. 
It is not very convenient to show on paper which lock should be 
on the outside, and which on the inside. If the builder has any 
skill, . he can alter the position of a pair of locks until they seem 
to wedge, or bind, more than they will in any other position, and 
then let the position of those locks be carefully observed, and let 
him endeavor to set the rest as nearly like them as is practicable. 
They should not be set too perpendicularly, nor too slanting, 
because if set too slanting they will not resist as great force as if 
they stand more perpendicularly ; and if they be set too perpen 
dicularly, the lock is not as binding ; and if the locks extend sev- 
eral feet above the fence, the wind is very liable to blow them 
over. If the locks be small stakes, or small rails, the foot of them 
must be placed almost close to the side of the panel which it 
locks ; but if they be large, they must be placed farther away 



76 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

from the panel. Locking a fence is adopted more for a temporary 
fence than for one which is to remain for a number of years ; and 
when stakes are at hand for locking, and a fence encloses a field 
of grain, it is more safe for the security of a crop to stake it, even 
if it were to remain but one season, A locked fence is always 
getting down ; and when a fence stands in a very bleak situation, 
where the wind is liable to prostrate it, it is folly to attempt to 
keep it up without having it firmly staked. Locking a fence ac- 
cording to the first mode of locking may be adopted with safety, 
providing the last rails, which extend from panel to panel, are 
very heavy, and the locks well rammed into the ground. 

STAKE AND CAP FENCE. 

86. Fig. 18 represents two different modes of staking a zigzag 
fence. The black dots show the situation of the stakes. After 
the foundation has been laid the stakes may be driven, or the 
fence may be made four or five rails high before the stakes are 
stuck. In either case the holes should be made with a crowbar, 

Fig. 18. 




STAKE AJJD CAP FEXCE. 



at least twenty inches deep ; and then, as one man stands on a 
bench, and drives them "with a sledge-hammer, another man should 
keep them erect. In order to expedite setting the stakes, let the 
holes all be made first ; and then let one hand get the stakes and 
place them in the holes, and hold them while another man lays 
his sledge hammer on his bench and carries them along, from 
joint to joint, and drives the stakes. Let the stakes all be sharp- 
ened for driving, and the top ends dressed off, so that the caps 
will go on readily before they are brought on to the ground. The 
most expeditious way to sharpen a lot of stakes is, to have a 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 77 

large flat block of wood for the stake to stand on, while it is held 
erect with one hand and sharpened with an axe in the other 
hand. Cut a little hollow in the top of the block so that the 
stakes, when being sharpened, will not slip off the block. The 
stakes must be sharpened true, or else they will not drive well. 
(See SHARPENiNa Posts, paragraph 79.) When the fence is 
made four, five, or six rails high, as may suit the caprice of the 
builder, the caps are put on, and then one or two rails more are 
laid on the fence. If stone can be obtained of sufficient size, 
one may be put between each pair of stakes under each cap, 
and one above each cap, which stone will carry up the fence 
the height of two rails. Some farmers put on two caps to 
each pair of stakes, when the fence is to be unusually high, but 
when stakes are driven twenty inches, or more, in dry ground, 
and a cap put on three or four feet from the ground, two caps 
are not necessary. In lieu of caps many farmers use wire 
for holding the stakes together, which, by many, is considered 
preferable to caps. Good annealed wire is used — about 9 or 1 is 
the right size (see Fig. 30) — and after being put around a pair of 
stakes, and cut partly in two with a file and broken, the two ends 
are either hooked together or twisted together. If the wire be 
large and stiff it is best to hook the ends together, as they can 
readily be taken off the stakes when it becomes necessary to 
repair the fence. Wire is cheaper than caps when one must 
advance cash for making them, and by drawing it up tight around 
the stakes it will bury into them, and the weight of all the rails 
above the wires will rest on the stakes, thus tending to keep the 
stakes in the ground when the frost has lifted them upwards. A 
fence, with the stakes set at each joint, one on each side of the 
fence, will resist a greater force than when they are set in the 
acute angles on each side of the joint, as shown in the figure. 

MAKING FENCE CAPS. 

87. The cheapest and most expeditious way of making fence 
caps, when a saw-miU is near at hand, is, to have the logs sawed 
into stuff about two by seven inches, or one and a half inches by 




78 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

seven, and then, with a circular saw, cut them ojff the length 
desired, and bore them. But, when timber will split freely, more 
caps can be made of a log by riving them out than by sawing, 
when the log is about twice the diameter of the width of a cap. 
The logs are sawed off the length of caps and split into quarters 
with a beetle and wedges, and then with a cooper's froe, (Fig. 
19,) an instrument used for riving timber, and with mallet, the 
the caps are split out, by setting the 
froe in the middle of the stick to be split. 
(See Splitting Timber, 63 and 64.) 
When caps are split out, one side of 
them will usually be thicker than the 
other. The average thickness of the 
caps is a matter of fancy. Some make 
them one inch, some two inches, some 
three or four inches thick. The thicker ^ ^^^'^ ™°^- 

the caps are, the more they will aid in carrying up the fence to a 
given height. If caps be made as thick as a rail, they carry up 
the fence as much as one tier of rails, and at the same time sub- 
serve the purpose of caps, and make a fence stronger than thin 
ones, which are liable to split very easily. There is nothing lost 
in making caps four inches thick, for it requires much less timber 
to make such a cap than it does to make a rail ; and a man can 
spht out four times as many caps in a day as he can rails ; and if 
they be thick as a rail, they will save one rail to a panel the 
entire length of the fence. 

88. The length of caps must be determined by the size of the 
rails, the size of the holes in the caps, and the amount of worm 
in the fence. These three considerations combined, will enable 
the builder to cut his caps of the correct length. It is necessary 
first to ascertain, if we can, what is about the average size of the 
rails. If they will average from three to four inches in diameter, 
the worm of the fence being from three and a half to four feet, 
the holes in the caps should be from five to six inches apart. 
Now, six inches between the holes, added to the size of the holes, 
which are usually about four inches in diameter, makes fourteen 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 79 

inches, which, added to three inches at each end, between the 
holes and the ends, will make twenty inches, the length of the 
caps. Slabs which are cut from logs, at saw-mills, will make good 
caps, and, as they can usually be purchased at a low price, they 
will make very cheap caps. 

BORING FENCE CAPS 

89. Is often done by hand, in the winter season, when farmers 
have but little to do. Two hands can bore one hundred or more 
in an hour when they are not more than two inches thick. 

90. There are various kinds of augers for this purpose. The 
kind which may be worked with the least power is a hollow 
auger, which cuts a circular ring through the cap, of the size of 
the hole, taking out a core from the centre of a hole. This kind 
of augers is not capable, generally, of boring caps which are 
more than about two to four inches thick. Their cost is from 
four to ten dollars, according to the work expended in fitting 
them up and making a bench for one. But when caps are to be 
bored by hand, an ingenious mechanic may get up an auger, 
bench and all, for about two dollars, which will perform well, and 
bore all the caps which will be required on one farm. When an 
auger is driven by horse power, or steam, or water, the mandrel 
which holds the auger must be of iron, having its bearings turned 
and pohshed ; but when boring is done by hand, the mandrel 
may be turned out of a very tough and hard piece of wood, with 
a kind of large centre bit firmly fixed in the end of it for the 
auger, with a crank at the other end. An ingenious blacksmith 
will make for fifty cents a centre bit, with a square shank six or 
eight inches long, for fastening it in the wooden mandrel. The 
caps are placed on a slide, which is made to move towards the 
auger by a strap being attached to it, and passing over a pulley 
and fastened to a foot treadle. After the hole is bored, the slide 
and cap are pulled back with the hands. The whole of it is so 
simple as to hardly require a description. Sometimes the cap is 
fed towards the auger by a screw, working in a stationary part 
of the bench ; but feeding with a strap and treadle is the quick- 

4 



80 



THE YOUNG FAKMER's MANUAL. 



est and most convenient way to bore caps. 
CHtNE, Fig. 122.) 



(See Boring Ma- 



bunk AND CAP FENCE. 




91. Figure 20 represents a bunk for fence, similar to stake 
and cap fence, with the exception that the stakes are set in a 
block about four feet in length, instead of in the ground. These 
blocks may be as large as one man can jTiq^ 20. 

handle, or they may be small as a rail of 
the largest size. The larger they are 
the more substantial the fence will be. 
The holes for the stakes should not be 
less than three inches in diameter, and 
should be bored entirely through the 
pieces, in order to allow water to work 
out at the bottom. "When a stake is a 
little too small, it may be made tight by 
a wedge on one side of it. This kind of 
fence may be straight or zigzag, and all the advantage it pos- 
sesses over other stake fences is, it can be removed more easily. 
It requires more timber and time to make it, and is not worthy 
of adoption generally, excepting in localities where stakes cannot 
be driven in the ground. "When this kind of fence is made 
straight, the ends of the rails in the bunks may lie side by side, 
or one above the other. "When they lay side by side, pieces of 
rails must be sawed just long enough to lie between the stakes, 
for the purpose of raising the next tier of rails several inches. 
"When this mode is adopted it will require as many short pieces 
as there are rails to carry it up to the caps. This fence possesses 
one good quality over a stake fence — it will not be lifted by the 
frost, and is more easily kept erect. 



BUNK FOR RAIL FENCE. 



STRAIGHT RAIL FENCE. 



92. Figure 21 shows a section of a rail fence, built with the 
rails in a straight line. The stakes are first set just far enough 
asunder to receive a rail of medium size. Then turn two furrows 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 



81 



with a plow, towards the fence, on each side of it, and throw up 
the second furrow with a shovel, so as to form a ridge one foot 
or more in height, leaving it one foot broad on the top, so that 
the rain will not wash it down too much. Let grass seed be 
sown on this ridge. Bj throwing up a ridge the stakes stand 
more firm, and are less liable to heave by the frost, and cattle do 
not have so much advantage in endeavoring to get through it, 




A STRAIGHT RAIL FBNCE. 



or over it ; and besides, it saves twice as many rails as a man 
could split while he is casting up a ridge. Blocks of wood or 
stone many now be placed close to the stakes, on the ridge, for 
the fence to rest on, or an inch pin, of durable and tough timber, 
may be put through both stakes for supporting the rails. When 
the fence is merely to stop horned cattle and horses, the pin may 
be one foot above the ridge. Lay the fence two or three rails 
high, laying between the stakes stones or blocks of wood, at 
pleasure, and then put in another pin, or put on a wooden cap or 
a wire. When a rail is too large, cut it away with the axe so 
tliat it will fit tightly between the stakes. Reserve the largest 
rails for the top, and keep the crooked ones in a panel by them- 
selves. 

93. This is the most economical rail fence that can be built 
for every kind of stock ; every one Hkes it, and it possesses all 
the commendable qualities that any fence can claim ; it occupies 
but little space, requires but few rails, is strong and substantial, 



82 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 



and looks neat and farmer-like. It may with propriety be de* 
nominated the farmer's own fence. 

THE HORSE FENCE, OR SKELETON FENCE, 

94. Which is represented by Fig. 22, is a straight fence, 
constructed of posts, rails, and wire, in the following manner : 
The posts are first set firmly in the ground, as far apart as the 
length of the rail, allowing the rails to extend by each post two 
or three inches ; a line is then struck on the posts, as in building 
board fence (see par. 152), as high as the top rail is to be placed ; 
then strike two more lines below the first one, as far apart as 
desired ; the two top rails may 
be one foot apart, and the two 
next one foot or ten inches. — 
Now, with a half-inch bit, bore _ 
the holes through the posts at 
each mark at right angles with ~ 
the fence ; then have two light 

benches, just high enough to 

set under the bottom rail, when | j 

it is raised as high as it should | 

i I 



Fig. 22. 



5± 



^ 



^ 






THE nOKSE, OR SKELETON FENCE. 



be on the side of the posts ; 
let the benches be placed so as 
to hold the rail about where it 
is to be fastened, and, with a wire running through the posts, 
fasten it around the end of the rail, by twisting the ends of it 
firmly together. Carry the first bench forward to the next post 
and lay up another rail, and put a wire through the post and 
around the ends of the two rails, a rail being on each side of the 
post, and twist the ends together. Carry forward the next bench 
and lay up another rail, and so on until the lower rails are all 
put up. Put up the second rail, letting one end rest on the bot- 
tom rail while the other end is being made fast. When more 
than one hand is at work putting up rails the benches may be 
dispensed with, but one hand alone will find it very difficult and 
inconvenient putting up the first rail without a bench to hold up 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 83 

one end while lie is fastening tlie other. It will be understood 
that the wire passes through the post and clasps the rails ; and 
o» the under side of the rails the wire is on the outside of the 
post. 

95. Some men prefer having two holes bored through the post 
for every tier of rails, and having a hole in each end of the rails, 
and the wire put through one rail, then through the post, then 
through the rail on the opposite side of the post, and then through 
the post again. But it requires far more labor to make the fence 
when two holes are made through the post for each tier of rails, and 
a hole in the end of the rails also, and it makes a fence no better, in 
any way, than when but one hole is made through the post for each 
tier of rails ; and, besides all this, when the holes are made through 
the rails as well as through the posts, they must be bored very 
exact, or it will be difficult putting the wires through. "When 
the wires pass entirely around the rails, if they are twisted up 
tightly the rails cannot be got out without breaking the wires. 
This is a very cheap and substantial fence, and will turn horses 
and large cattle about as well as a fence seven rails to a panel. 
It is a great improvement to cast up a ridge along this kind of 
fence, as neither cattle nor horses can push against it with as 
much force as when the ground about it is all smooth and level. 
If the rails be unusually large, the holes in the posts may be 
bored farther apart than one foot. 

96. The principal reason why many fail in building this kind 
of fence is, they do not use posts sufficiently large. Many use 
only stakes, driven eighteen or twenty inches into the ground. 
But in order to have such a fence stand well, the posts should be 
as large as for an ordinary board fence, and should be set as deep 
as for a board fence ; then if an unruly animal thrust his head 
through he cannot throw off the top rails, nor push away the 
bottom ones ; he must necessarily break the wires or rails, or 
demolish the fence, in order to get through, and any animal that 
will do that should not have his liberty in an open field. 




84 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

THE LOG, OR POLE FENCE. 

97. Fig. 23 shows the mode of building a fence with logs, or 
large poles or rails ; they maj be cut as long as they can be 
handled conveniently. When a fence is made of logs, one end 
of them should be spotted 
with an axe, so that they 
will not roll off at every 
touch of an animal. When 
one has lots of timber 
that is of but little value, ^ ^ 
it may be worked into a ''°^' °^ ^"""^ ^''^• 

fence in the logs, at very much less expense than to split it into 
rails. Logs thirty feet in length may be used for the two first 
tiers, and may be rolled to their places on the fence with a team. 
When it is one or two logs high it may be finished with heavy 
poles. 

98. When this kind of fence -is made entirely of poles, the 
cross panels may be made of the sound pieces of old rails, or of 
pieces of poles. In either case the corners should be spotted, so 
that they will not roll. 

99. When one has a large lot of sound pieces of old rails, 
they may be used up to an advantage in building a rail fence in 
this manner. When such a fence is made of rails, in order to 
have it straight, stick a row of stakes, and lay one corner of the 
fence in a line with the stakes, and cut the lower sticks, for the 
short panels, about two and a half feet long and place the next 
corner as far from the first as it will admit of, and lap a few inches 
at each end, laying the short panels at a right angle with the 
rails. As the tiers of rails are laid on, the ends should be laid 
inwards a little, every tier towards each other, so that when the 
fence is about five rails high the top rails will lay in a straight 
line, with their ends side by side. The pieces for the short 
panels should be shorter in length at each tier, and the top ones 
may be "not more than one foot long. This kind of fence should 
always be staked, and after it is staked the ends of the rails will 



THE YOUNG FAKMER'S MANUAL. 85 

touch the under side of the stakes from the bottom to the top of 
the fence. The place for each stake is shown by the preceding 
diagram. The heaviest rails are laid between the stakes for 
riders, and if large poles, as long as two rails, can be obtained 
for riders, the fence will be much stronger than if it were made 
entirely of rails. This kind of fence is to be staked with stakes 
not sharpened, but set in holes dug with a pick, or mattock, whose 
blade is about two inches wide. 

100. I may be allowed to remark here, that but few men 
know how to dig a stake hole correctly. We often see the man 
stand facing the fence when digging the holes ; this is decidedly 
wrong, because when standing in this position, the earth, which 
should all remain unbroken and solid, to keep the stakes from 
tipping up when the riders are laid on, is all broken up, and the 
stakes tip up very readily ; but if the digger will stand with his 
side to the fence, and dig a long deep hole, leaving an unbroken 
bank for the end of the stake to raise against, it will be almost 
impossible to make the ends tip up by laying on any amount of 
heavy riders. It matters not how long the hole is dug in the 
direction of the length of the fence, but it should be dug to fit 
the stake. It should slant in the direction of the stakes when 
the riders are on the fence, and be just wide enough to admit the 
end of stake when it is thrust into the hole with a man's whole force. 
When the stakes are large, and the rails also, the stakes must 
be set more slanting than when the rails are very small. If 
stakes be set rather straight up and down, they may be in the 
correct position for a small rail, but if the riders were large there 
would be too much space between the rails and riders. Two 
riders are usually laid in such a fence, although many farmers 
use but one. The under rider is laid with one end in a pair of 
stakes, and the other end under the next pair of stakes. The 
upper riders, of course, are laid in the stakes, with both ends 
above them. 



86 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 



THE ROD FENCE, 

101. Is a great favorite among some farmers because of its 
substantiability. This kind of fence is made like the zigzag 
stake and rail fence, with an iron rod passing through all the 
rails at the joints. Iron rods, from three to four-eighths of an 
inch in diameter, and about four and a half feet long, are set in 
a fence block two or three inches deep, and then a hole about 
three-fourths of an inch in diameter is bored through each end 
of all the rails, after which they are slipped on the rods. To save 
rails, pieces of rails may be sawed up about four or six inches 
long, and bored and put on the rods. It is not necessary that 
the rods be made very tight in the fence blocks, for the force 
of anything against the fence is merely in a horizontal direction, 
and when all the rails are laid up the fence will resist quite as 
great a force if the rods enter the blocks loosely, as when they 
are made tight. 

102. "When boring the rails, some eight or ten of them should 
be laid on two benches, and tlie holes made at an equal distance, 
measuring with a thin strip of board, or the like. The holes 
should be at least' one-third larger than the rods, and care and 
skill must be exercised in boring them, and have them true with 
each other. If one hole slant a little one way and the other hole 
be straight through, or slant a little in another direction, it will 
be very difficult getting the rails on the rods, on account of their 
binding on the rods. If it were desired, a head could be made 
on the lower ends of the rods and a nut and screw on the upper 
ends, and they could pass through the blocks and rails and be 
screwed up tight. Let a small hole be drilled in stone blocks for 
the end of the rod. 



THE SIDE HILL, OR GUN FENCE. 

103. A section of which is represented by Fig. 24, is made 
with small stakes and short pieces of rails, or it may all be made 



THE YOUNG FARMER S MANUAL. 



87 



Z} 



Hn 



R 



S^ 



n 



.1 CL-i 



n 



SIDE HILL, OR GUN FENCE. 






of stakes only, four, Fig. 24 

jEive, or six feet in JT-, 

length, pointed and -Hr 

driven in the ground. 

The rise of the ground 

where the fence is to 

be made will deter 

mine the length of 

both rails and stakes. 

"Where the ground is 

so steep that an ani- 
mal — horse or ox — can 

scarcely ascend or de- 
scend, the horizontal 

pieces may be only 

four feet in length and 

the stakes four feet. Two stakes are required for each rail. 

Slabs placed edge ways in the stakes, will lay up much faster 

with a given number of stakes than pieces of rails or stakes. 
104. The first step in building such a fence on level ground 

or up an acclivity, is to plow a narrow trench, from eight to 

twelve inches deep ; and where the ground is too steep to be 

plowed, a narrow channel may be dug with a pick or spade. 

Commence at the foot of the hill and lay one end of the slab or 

piece of rail on a large stone or block of wood, or a short post 

driven in the ground, and the other end in the trench, and stamp 

the dirt on each side of it to keep it on its edge. Set a pair of 

stakes so that they will rest on this slab, as shown in the figure, 

and then lay another slab in the crotch of the stakes, with one 

end in the trench, and stamp in the dirt with the foot, as was 

done with the first one. When this kind of fence is built on 

level ground, slabs of almost any length may be used. Long 

ones must be placed more nearly horizontal than the short ones. 

When slabs are of various lengths, those of one length should 

be placed together, in order lo make the fence of a uniform 

height. Whatever may be the length of a slab, the end of the 
4* 



88 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 



first slab above the ground should be elevated just as high as 
the fence is to be made, and as the other slabs are laid in the 
crotch of the stakes, care must be exercised to keep them all of 
about the same inclination as the first one that was put up. If, 
for instance, one has been making fence of slabs sixteen feet 
long, and wishes now to use slabs twelve feet in length, in order 
to have the fence of a uniform height, the slabs twelve feet long 
must be placed more perpendicularly than those sixteen feet in 
length. Let the builder always remember to place the largest 
end of a slab in the ground. 



THE PARK FENCE. 

105. Fig. 25 is a representation of a fence which will turn 

almost anything that ought to have its liberty in the fields. This 

fence, where timber is cheap, is the cheapest fence that can be 

built, for a high fence. The first step in building it is, to plow a 

"PiQ^ 25. *^^^P trench, and then 

make holes with a crow- 
bar in it, as far apart as 
the stakes are to be 
stuck. Have a long 
plank bench, standing 
by the side of the fence, 
and let one man put the 
stakes in the holes and 
hold them perpendicu- 
larly, while another man 
drives them. The stakes 
may be from three to 
eight inches apart, in the 
clear, according to the size of the animals to be turned. One 
side of the tops should be kept in perfect range, so that 
a narrow strip of board may be nailed to each of them. At the 
distance of about every ten or twelve feet, a stake two or three 
feet longer than the rest should be set, for holding wires, which 
may be fastened to the stakes with staples, or they may pass 




PA»K J-KNCE. 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 89 

through the stakes in holes as in the figure. Wire as small as 
number twelve would be sufficiently large for this purpose. 
After the stakes are all driven, there should be two or three fur- 
rows plowed on each side of the fence and cast up against the 
stakes with a shovel, and grass seed sowed on it. "When such a 
fence is made of durable timber, well seasoned and well made, it 
will need no repairing, ordinarily, for a score of years. 

STAKE AND EIDEK FENCE. 

106. At Fig. 26 the ordinary mode of finishing a worm fence 
with stakes and riders is shown. The stakes are set about one 
foot deep in the ground, the holes having been dug with a pick, 
about from eighteen j^iq^ 26. 

to thirty inches from 
the fence, according 
to the size of the 
rails and the height 

of the fence, before ^[^ '^f 

it is staked, and the •'^''.vke and rider fence. 

amount of worm which is given it in laying the foundation. 
The higher the fence is before it is staked, and the larger the 
riders are, and the more worm there is, the farther the foot of 
the stakes must be set from the fence. The dotted lines show 
the position of the stakes ; and it will be discovered, that at 
every alternate corner of the fence they are placed with the 
opposite sides together. This is a very important consideration in 
staking a fence of this style, which men of experience well 
understand, but which the beginner does not always perceive 
very readily ; and those who do not understand the practical 
importance of it place every pair of stakes alike, and the conse- 
(|uence is, the spaces between the riders are very much too wide. 
We will suppose, for instance, that in making a fence like the 
figure, we commence at a certain point and work west. The 
stakes on the north side of the fence a a a must be placed on 
the east side of those on the south side, and the stakes at h h 
must be placed on the west side of those on the south side of the 




90 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 



fence. This is important only when the lower rider is placed 
with one end in the crotch of one pair of stakes and th^ other 
end under the next pair. For the lower riders, rails of small 
size should be used. When no cross rider is used, the first or 
lowest rider being laid, with both ends in the stakes, each pair 
of stakes may set just ahke. Let the outside stakes all be set 
in a line, as nearly as may be, so that in plowing the plow may 
be run straight along by the foot of them. Set the foot of the 
stakes at a right angle with the fence, and not diagonally, either 
way, because, when set so as to lean on the fence in a diagonal 
direction, the spaces between the riders will often be rendered 
wider, and a fence will not stand as firmly as if the stakes were 
standing at a right angle with the fence. The height of this 
style of fence, before it is staked, must depend on the size of the 
fence blocks, the size of the rails, and the ultimate height of the 
fence. When the fence blocks and rails are of a good size, and 
animals orderly, and riders heavy, four rails high before staking, 
and two after staking, will make a good lawful fence, and any 
animal that would pass it by leaping over it, or by demolishing 
it, should be hampered without delay, or placed in a field which 
is fenced with a 



V 





DOUBLE STAKE AND RIDER FENCE. 

107. Fig. 27 represents the manner of staking and ridering a 

fence in a twofold 
manner. The fence is 
first made like Fig. 
18, and then long 
poles or rails are laid 
on the top of the 
riders, and staked as 
shown in the figure, and heavy rails or poles are laid in the stakes. 
It is very convenient sometimes to have a yard or small field en- 
closed with such a fence, where a bull or stallion may be ^turned 
loose without any fears of his getting out of his proper place ; and 




^W^ 



o' o' 

DOUBLE STAKE AXD RIDER FEXCB. 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 91 

if it is enclosed with such a fence, any animals that are let loose 
within such an enclosure are obliged to remain there until they 
are allowed to go out at the gate. 

THE GUARD FENCE 

108. Is sometimes one of the most economical rail fences that 
can be erected. When one has but few rails at hand, and a tem- 
porary fence is needed for a few weeks, the guard fence is a very 
economical and convenient mode of fencing. It not unfrequently 
occurs that it is necessary to fence a narrow way across the end 
of a field, where the cattle are to be driven to a distant field every 
day to pasture or to water. Sometimes, also, it is very desirable 
to have a temporary fence through a field, for the purpose of al- 
lowing a team to graze for a few hours where there is good pas- 
ture, while there may be grain in one part of the field. This 
style of fence is not designed to turn cattle only while the eyes of 
some one is on them. It is made two or three rails high, zigzag 
or straight. Stakes, or crotches, are driven into the ground, so 
that the bottom rail, when resting on them, will be about two 
feet from the ground. Stake them with anything that will not 
decay while the fence is needed, and lay on one rider, or two, as 
may seem best. If two riders are used, the lower rider should 
be laid with one end in the crotch of one pair of stakes, while the 
other end is under the stakes. This style of fence will often sub- 
serve as good a purpose as one which would cost four or five 
times as much as this. 

POST AND BAR FENCE 

109. Is a style of fence which many farmers seem to admire 
more than almost any other, but it is not economical, as a general 
rule, because of the great amount of labor required to build it. 
The posts are mortised similar to bar-posts, and the rails are split 
from five to six inches wide, and about two inches thick ; and the 
ends of two bars, one on each side of the post, are dressed off so 
that two of them will enter one hole. There can be no objection 



92 THE YOUNG FAKMER'S MANUAL. 

to this fence save the expense of labor in building it. "When a 
post and bar fence is built of durable timber, and in a workman- 
hke manner, it will stand without any repairing as long, and per- 
haps longer, than almost any other rail fence. 

POST AND RAIL FENCE 

110. Is made similar to post and bar fence, only in this style : 
A round tenon is made on each end of all the rails, which are well 
driven into round holes in the posts. "When a fence is built in 
this manner, the tenons should be well smeared with coal tar or 
paint, to exclude the wet, as in such places they would be very 
liable to decay in ai"ew seasons if unpainted. 

A post and rail fence may be made a self-sustaining fence by 
boring the holes in round sticks for corner posts, at such an angle 
that the rails of each panel will be about the same angle of an or- 
dinary rail fence. But we would not advise the builder to at- 
tempt to erect such a self-sustaining fence, for he would most 
assuredly wish, in a few years, that he had never seen such a 
fence. There are several other styles of rail fence, which we have 
not adverted to, because we do not consider them worthy of 
adoption. 

BARS AND BAR-POSTS. 

111. Bars should always be made of light timber when they 
are made to be let down, so that children can put them up with- 
out difficulty. The hghtest rails should be selected for bars, 
when the rails are being overhauled, so that no time may be lost 
in searching for them when they are needed. The neatest bars 
are made by having a log of some light timber sawed into bars 
about an inch and a half thick by four or five wide ; one log will 
make a large lot of them. Bar-posts should be not less *than 
eleven or twelve feet apart, as that amount of space is none too 
great to allow a load of hay or grain, or some of the implements 
of the farm, to pass through freely. 



THE YOUNG farmer's MANUAL. 



93 



SLIDING BARS, 

12. Represented at Fig. 28, are the most convenient style for 
bars, especially where jPjq^ 28. 

bars are used very 
often. Three bar- 
posts are set so that = 
the bar-holes will ex- 
actly range with 
each other. Two 
of them should be 
set about four feet 
apart, and two about 
eleven or twelve feet 
apart. The bars 
should be sawed true 




SUDIXG BARS. 



and straight, and in opening the bar- way they can be pushed back, 
as shown in the figure. Such bars are much more convenient 
than those which must be let down or taken out when anything 
is to pass through. 

113. Cattle, horses, and some other animals, sometimes acquire 
the vice of letting the bars down, and thus opening the way to 
forbidden ground. This may be prevented by boring a hole in 
the bars on each side of one of the posts through which the bars 
slide, and by putting in pins. This is better than to wedge the 
bars in the mortises. 

114. Bar-posts (see Splitting Bae-posts, Fig. 12) should be 
hewed out straight, as they are sometimes winding ; and all the 
mortises should be parallel with each other. If the sides of a 
bar-post are winding, an unskillful workman is very liable to make 
the mortises crooked, or not parallel with each other, and the 
consequence would be that the mortises in the different posts 
would not range with each other. Good slabs, which are cut 
from logs at saw-mills, will make good bar-posts. 

115. Fig. 29 represents the manner of making a bar-post so as 



94 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

to connect a fence with it. If the post is ten or more 
inches wide, it will be wide enough for the bar-holes 
or mortises, and a row of round holes for the ends of 
rails. In case the post is not wide enough for a row 
of holes for the ends of the rails, a stake may be set 
on one side of it, with pieces of boards firmly naUed i 




on from the post to the stake, for supporting the rails. l U ^Ji o 
The mortises should be not less than two inches wide ; 
and the length of them and spaces is shown by the - 
figures. The mortises for the top bars, when bars are i I 
made to be let down, must be a httle longer, up and jj 
down, than the bottom ones, so as to allow the other ij 
ends of the bars to go down to the ground. For slid- 
ing bars, the mortises need not be much longer than bar-post. 
the width of the bars. 

116. Repairing bar-posts is something that is seldom thought 
of by those who have lots of bar-posts which have rotted entirely 
off at the surface of the ground. The tops would last many 
times fifteen years longer, but the lower ends of them have de- 
cayed. Let such posts be pinned firmly to a strong stake or two, 
and an old bar-post will subserve the place of a new one. 

117. Bar-posts should be made on stormy days and in the win- 
ter, when the forces of the farm are not engaged in the operations 
which demand attention at some particular season. To aid the 
beginner in laying out the mortises for a bar-post, take a narrow 
strip of thin board and cut notches in it, so that it may be laid on 
a post and the mortises and spaces marked off correctly and alike 
on all the posts. The length of the mortises and width of spaces 
must first be laid out correctly on the marking board, and then 
there will be no danger of mortising a post wrong. The mortises 
and spaces may be made according to Fig. 29. 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 



95 



E. NASHS IMPROVED FENCE. 

Fig. 29^ represents a new style of straight rail fence, which 
has but recently been invented by E. Nash, Auburn, N. Y. It 
may be constructed of rails or of boards. If made of rails, flat- 
ten the ends a little, and cut them of a uniform length, and nail 



Fig. 29|. 




NASH'S IMPROVED YESCS. 



pieces of boards four feet long, and five or six inches wide to the 
ends of the rails, as shown in the cut, allowing them to extend 
beyond the ends of the rails half their -width. Two boards are 
required at each panel, one at each end, and on opposite sides. 
Set the panels erect on flat stones, or other blocks, and put a 
small carriage bolt through the upper ends of the braces, and 
through the uprights, or nail them, and set the braces, which 
may be made of pieces of rails, in the ground with a pick or 
spade. Drive small stakes, if necessary, near the foot of the 
uprights, to keep the bottom of the fence from being moved side- 
ways. This fence may be used for hurdles, or fencing stacks, or for 
making pens for stock. "When used for either of these purposes 
long staples, passing through one of the uprights and fastened 
by a wooden key, will hold the panels at the corners more con- 
veniently than bolts. It may be erected on roUing land, or up 
and down slopes, as well as on level ground ; and is very cheaply 
constructed, saving more than one-third the number of rails, and 
is as durable as any other style of rail fence, and is not liable to 



96 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

be displaced by the frost. The only portion liable to rapid decay 
are the ends of the braces, which may be cut off after the enda 
have rotted, and bolted to the uprights lower down from the top. 
Board fence may be built after this style, of any desired height 
or width of boards, and it will be difl&cult to displace or knock 
off the boards, as they are well battered on each side of the 
fence. The foot of the braces need not be more than tw^enty 
inches from the blocks. The cost of such a fence will depend 
upon the value of timber. In my locality, good fencing can be 
obtained for seventy cents per hundred square feet, and about 
thii'ty square feet will make a rod in length. The labor of erect- 
ing will not amount to more than six cents per rod. This is the 
most permanent and substantial straight fence for the surface of 
the ground, that I have met with ; and I have no hesitancy in 
recommending it to my brother farmers. 

SECTION 2. BOARD FENCE. 

" Where towering piucs and rugged oaks abound, 
With pales or boards the fields are circled round : 
The royal oak supplies both posts and rails ; 
Hemlock and tulip furnish boards and pales." — Edwards. 

118. There is no hmit to the different styles of board fence. 
Boards of all widths and lengths have been worked into fence ; 
and in half the instances, the builders have never stopped to 
inquire whether they are using up their timber in the most 
economical manner or not. I have no apprehensions of being 
charged with making a random assertion, when I affirm, that 
were all the boards which are worked up through the country, 
in building board fence, sawed in the most economical forms and 
sizes, just twice as much fence could be made with them, and 
the fences would be just as permanent, efficient and durable as 
they now are. There is not half the economy exercised in pre- 
paring the materials for a board fence, that there is in building 
fences of other descriptions. Farmers too often trust to a saw- 
yer to saw their fencing of the different sizes, which they (the 
sawyers) may think most convenient and suitable ; and in too 



THE YOUNG FAEMER's MANUAL. 97 

many instances it is sawed into hoards, and that is all. Now, if 
a board four or five inches wide will subserve as good a purpose 
in building fence as one seven or eight inches wide, there is a 
manifest want of economy in preparing the boards for fence ; and 
if two posts will subserve as good a purpose for every sixteen 
feet in length of fence, as if they occupied only twelve feet, then 
there is a lack of economy in using up posts, and nails, and in 
digging the holes, and in performing most of the other work 
required to build a board fence. If the builder desires to build 
a tight board fence, ^. e., one with no spaces between the boards, 
it will require just about so many feet of boards for a rod, 
whether they are placed horizontally or vertically. But when 
an open board fence is to be erected, where economy in lumber 
and labor is a consideration of any account, the idea which should 
influence the builder is, to have the boards as long as will be 
most profitable, and as narrow as will be most consistent, with 
suitable strength and symmetry, and the spaces between the 
boards as wide as possible, and turn those animals which the 
fence is designed to stop from getting on forbidden ground. 

119. Many farmers, and experienced fence- builders, also, have 
imbibed the notion that the bottom board must of necessity be a 
foot or more wider than the others, and the second and third 
still narrower than the bottom board, until the top board is 
arrived at, which must be narrower than any of the others. "We 
might, with the same propriety, contend that the bottom rail of 
a rail fence should be preposterously large, while the top one 
should be the smallest. There would be just as much consist- 
ency in the latter as in the former. I know it is contended that 
a board fence looks better when the bottom board is about twice 
as wide as the top board. But we have all followed in the train 
of custom in this respect for so long a time, that we have come 
to think that a board fence looks " odd " and not tasty, if the 
boards are all of one width, being as narrow as would be con- 
sistent with their strength to turn animals. Had we been accus- 
tomed to see all the boards of a uniform width, it would appear 
still more odd and deficient in taste, to see a fence built with the 



98 THE YOUNG FARMKli'S MANUAL. 

bottom board twice as wide as the top board. Sometimes the 
bottom boards are from twelve to eighteen inches wide, and the 
top boards of the same fence only four inches. There can be no 
plausible reason whatever, to justify the use of such a wide 
board for the bottom of a board fence. It cannot be argued that 
greater strength is necessary near the bottom of a fence, for 
the reverse of this is true. Swine and sheep do not require as 
strong a fence as horses and horned cattle ; consequently, if a 
wide board is necessary, matters of taste and strength argue that 
it should be placed at the top of the fence, where the greatest 
resistance is needed. If a board four or five inches wide pos- 
sesses sufficient strength to turn horned cattle and horses, most 
assuredly a board of that width is sufficiently strong to turn 
swine and sheep. If, for instance, a board were fourteen inches 
wide, and placed three inches from the ground, it would make 
the fence seventeen inches high. Now, if that board were slit 
into three boards of equal width, being about four and a half 
inches wide, with the first board three inches above the ground, 
and the first space three inches, and the second space four inches, 
that same board would make a fence 3+4-|--f-4+4|-+5-f-5|= 
26-2- inches high, and sufficiently strong to turn any kind of 
domestic animals. Again, fence boards are often sawed twelve 
or fourteen inches wide for the bottom board, the next nine inches 
wide, the next eight, the next seven, the next, or top board, six 
inches. The spaces often are two inches below the bottom board ; 
first space two inches, second space three inches, third space four 
inches, fourth space five inches, which will make a fence five feet 
high. The boards used would be equal to a board forty-four 
inches wide, with spaces amounting to sixteen inches wide. It 
is granted that such a fence would be a strong and substantial 
one ; but, if the boards were all of a uniform width, (four and a 
half inches wide,) with wider spaces, but still sufficiently narrow 
to stop pigs and lambs, a fence five feet high, and far more tasty, 
in my estimation, could be made with six boards four and a half 
inches wide, equal to a board twenty-seven inches in width, with 
spaces three, four, 'five, six, seven, eight inches in width. But 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 99 

we would not be understood that we consider sucli a fence an 
economical one, or worthy of adoption as a general rule ; because, 
for ordinary purposes, all timber that is used in building a fence 
above four and a half feet high is useless, and the labor of 
building no better than thrown away. And, again, there is no 
necessity for having so narrow spaces between the boards. A 
space of three or four inches wide between the first and second 
boards at the bottom is narrow enough ; and any small animals, 
pigs or lambs, that will go under the bottom board when it is three 
inches above the surface of the ground, or through a space four 
inches wide, above the bottom board, will seldom do any damage 
on the other side of the fence. An animal must be very small 
to be able to pass through horizontal spaces only four inches in 
width. Allowing, then, a space of three inches below the bottom 
board, and four inches between the first and second boards, when 
they are not less than four and a half inches wide, the space be- 
tween the second and third boards may be five inches wide, with- 
out any danger of pigs or lambs passing through it ; for any pig 
or lamb that can go through a five-inch space, cannot possibly 
get through such a space when it is seventeen inches above the 
ground on which the animal is standing, unless it should be a 
descendant of the illustrious tribe of swine denominated " land 
pikes^''^ or " alligators^'''' or some mountain ranger of the sheep race. 
After a fence is built thirty inches high, if the spaces are just 
narrow enough to prevent cattle and horses from thrusting their 
heads between the boards, there will be no apprehensions that 
sheep will be able to get through them. There is no necessity 
whatever in making any of the spaces, which may be above two 
feet from the surface of the ground, less than seven inches wide ; 
for no sheep nor swine can get through a space of seven inches, 
when it is above two feet from the ground. And there should 
be no space more than ten inches wide, or eleven, at the most. 
Tlie upper space is often made one foot wide. But that is too 
wide ; for horses and horned cattle of many kinds will thrust their 
heads through the fence in a space of twelve inches. But in a 
space of ten inches there is not room for the heads of ordinary 



100 THE YOUNG. FARMER'S MANUAL. 

cattle and horses. The builder, in building a board fence, can 
always calculate for himself on the width of spaces. If cattle 
more than one year old, and horses, only, are to be fenced against, 
it will be entirely safe, unless animals are quite unruly, to make 
all the spaces ten inches wide. In fencing against calves, the 
spaces below thirty inches from the ground should not be ten 
inches wide ; because calves, and even most yearlings, can thrust 
their heads through a space of ten inches. 

119. We will now show by illustration what we consider as 
economical^ substantial, symmetrical,' and tasty a board fence as 
can be erected, when there is no ridge of earth along the fence. 
We never consider a fence the most economical that can be built, 
when it is necessary to build a fence from the surface of the ground, 
that has not a ridge of earth below the boards; because a ridge of 
earth twenty or more inches high may be cast up at less than 
half the expense of purchasing other materials for fencing to such 
a height, making no account of the labor of putting them up. 
But as it is not always desirable, and sometimes very objectiona- 
ble, to have a ridge of earth beneath a fence, we will calculate 
it from the surface of the ground. In all localities where animals 
of every description are allowed to roam, lawlessly, in the high- 
way, a fence along the sides of the highway is usually required to 
be a little better than the ordinary fences of the farm. Along the 
liighway it is often necessary to fence against all varieties of dis- 
orderly animals which belong to the dumb brutes of the fair crea- 
tion, saying nothing of fencing against bipeds, which are most 
stupendously stupid, which run in the highways ; and consequently 
a fence is needed which will offer a resistance fully adequate to 
the exigency of the circumstances. 

120. A board which is sixteen feet long, four and a half inches 
wide, and not less than one inch in thickness, if it is of sound 
timber when made into fence, as it ought to be, will not give way 
beneath the weight of a heavy man when he is climbing over the 
fence, and it will resist a much greater lateral thrust than we 
would ordinarily suppose ; and if the top board be covered with a 
cap board four inches wide and an inch and a quarter thick, if 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 101 

of good timber, a horse or steer may mount on it and hang there 
until he becomes satisfied that his weight will not break down 
the fence ; but the timber must be free from knots and curls, and 
places where the grain runs crosswise of the boards. If a board 
four and a half inches wide will sustain such a weight and resist 
such a thrust as have been mentioned, it cannot be considered as 
the best economy to saw boards for fence over four and a half 
inches in width, and sixteen feet long ; and it cannot be denied 
that boards of these dimensions are sawed up in the most econom. 
ical manner for fences ; but if the timber be full of knots, and is 
"cross-grained," it would be more economical, and wiser policy, 
to saw some of them at least eight inches wide. With these con- 
siderations, the builder will be able to determine with propriety 
w^hat sizes, length, breadth and thickness, will be 

THE MOST ECONOMICAL DIMENSIONS OF FENCE BOARDS. 

121. In order to save fence posts, the logs for boards should 
be cut sixteen feet long, besides the stub-shot. With this length 
the posts should be set just eight feet apart, from centre to centre. 
There can be no objection to cutting logs for fencing eighteen or 
twenty feet long ; but with that length of boards, it would be 
necessary to have more than two posts to each panel, for a dis- 
tance of more than eight feet between posts, when the boards are 
only four and a half inches wide, would be rather too great ; but 
if boards were sawed proportionally wider — and in no case should 
fence boards be sawed less than a plump inch in thickness — there 
could be no objection to cutting the logs eighteen or twenty feet 
long, and in setting the posts nine or ten feet apart. It would 
be far better policy to saw fence boards that are four and a half 
inches wide, one and one-eighth or one and one-fourth inches 
thick, instead of sawing them one inch or less in thickness. 
Fence boards, when not well painted, become thinner every year 
by the wearing away of the grain, caused by the influences of 
wet and dry weather, and consequently every board becomes less 
strong year by year. 



102 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 



Fig. 30. 




122. Fig. 30 represents a style of board fence which will 
turn, most effectually, horses, horned cattle, sheep, lambs and 
swine, if they are not incorrigibly unruly, and which, in the 

judgment of our civil fence 
law, would be considered 
,;to„„i,K.ii) a lawful fence, either along 
the highway side or be- 
tween the adjoining farms. 
Some of our great sticklers 
for wide boards at the bot- 
tom may take some excep- 
tions to it; but if fields are 
inclosed with such a fence, 
the proprietor, and all the 

HIGHWAY BIDK BOARD FENCE, FOUE AND A HALF forCC of thc farm, may llC 

^^^'^ "'^"- down to rest without en- 

tertaining any fears that any of their animals will get on forbid- 
den ground through or over such a fence. It will be seen by the 
figure that it is fifty-three and a half inches high, including the 
cap board, and if that were one and a half inches thick, which 
would be economy, the fence would be four and a half feet high. 
The posts are set eight feet apart, from centre to centre, perpen- 
dicularly, and a line struck on the sides of the posts for the top 
board, according to the manner shown at paragraph 152 ; and if 
but one workman is employed in building the fence, to aid in 
holding up the ends of the boards he will find it very advanta- 
geous to use two gauge boards, like Fig. 31, which are very im- 
portant in building a board fence, in order to prevent mistakes in 
the spaces. "When two such boards are used, the lower ends can 
be set on the ground, and the top fastened near the top of a post, 
by driving in a nail a little, just sufficient to hold it while all the 
boards of one panel are being put up ; two such boards would be 
of far more practical utility to a good workman, than any two 
boys from the Emerald Isle, because the gauge boards would al- 
ways hold them in the right place. The boards should ^^hreak 
jotnt'^ on every alternate post, because it renders a fence stronger 



I— ( 

Q 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 103 

than to have all the joints on one post. Not less 
than two eight -penny fence nails should be used in 
a place. The whole fence may be planed and painted, 
or not, as desired ; but in either case, the face sides ^ 
of the posts, and those parts of the boards which come t 
in contact with the posts, should be painted, or smeared § ^ 
with coal tar, to prevent their decaying. After the P 
boards are all nailed on, the efficiency and strength of 
the fence will be much increased by nailing on battens, 
four inches wide, over the boards on each post. The 
insides of the battens and the fence boards, where they are nailed, 
should be painted. Much care should be exercised in nailing on 
the battens, lest the large nails split the ends of the fence boards. 
If the nails are very large, holes should be bored through both 
battens and boards for the nails. Some fence makers consider it 
very important to fit pieces of boards in the spaces between all 
the boards, and nail them to the posts ; but if a fence is well bat- 
tened, and if the nails which hold the battens are driven near the 
lower edges of the fence boards, pieces in the spaces will not pay 
for the labor of fitting them and putting them in. After the 
battens are all nailed on, let the tops of posts be sawed off square, 
and the cap board firmly nailed on. This should be four inches 
wide, so as to cover the top ends of the posts and the top board 
and the batten. If it should be desirable to case all the posts of 
such a fence, or every second post, the manner and style of doing 
it may be seen at Fig. 32, 

123. Which represents a style of fence which is almost uni- 
versally admired, especially by the farmers' wives. The fence is 
designed to be planed and painted, and a part or all of the posts 
cased. The face casings are eight inches wide, and extend ten 
or eleven inches above the top of the fence. The tops of cases 
are finished with square pieces of plank, or with a pyramidal top, 
made of inch boards. The boards are all nailed on the posts, 
and then the face casings to posts are nailed on, as if they were 
battens. The side casings are then fitted by cutting gains in 
them for the fence boards, and they are nailed to the face casings. 
5 



104 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 



The side casings are six inches wide. This makes a case eight 
inches square. If every alternate post is cased, the remainder 
should be battened, as shown in the figure. There is no economy 
in casing posts, and it is done merely to please the fancy. For 

Fig. 32. 




LAWN FENCE. 



my own part, I do not approve of casing but few posts ; and I 
may be allowed to say, that the majority of people are quite as 
well pleased with the appearance of such a fence, when only the 
gate posts and those at the corners of the yard are cased, as when 
every post or every second post is cased. It increases the expense 
of a fence very much to case all the posts, and they are by no 
means ornaments of good taste and of rural beauty. For a fence 
which encircles a huge cathedral of the Corinthian style of archi- 
tecture, cased posts for a board fence would seem to be in better 
taste and harmony than around a plain country residence of a 
farmer. The fence, as represented by Fig. 32, is forty-five inches 
high, including the cap board. There is one objection to it, 
however, and that is, it is not high enough to suit most men. 
But the eight-inch space might be made two inches wider, and 
the bottom board might be slit in two, and a space between the 
two pieces three inches wide. There is a width of boards, aside 
from the cap in this fence, of twenty-two inches, and in Fig. 30 



THE YOUNG FARMEK's MANUAL. 



105 



there is a widtli of twenty-two and a half inches, but about a foot 
difference in the height of the fences. The builder can choose 
either, or reject both, or make the spaces a httle wider or nar- 
rower, to suit his caprice. 



DIVISION FENCE. 

124. Fig. 33 represents a style of board fence which almost 

every farmer likes, because of its efficiency and cheapness and 

durability. It is four and a half feet high, with boards sixteen 

Fig. 33. or more feet long, and four 

and a half inches wide, 
and only three to a panel. 



_i 


ii - \ 


4-'* ffii: H 


1 




II ^ I 



1 



.ISi. 



20^ 



The spaces are the same 

-^^_ as in the fence at Fig. 30. 
There are no cap boards to 
this fence. The great ex- 
cellence of this fence con- 
• ; I i sists in its permanence, and 

L..i L-.s the facility with which it 

DIVISION FENCK can be made. The posts 

are set as shown at Fig. 34 ; and any one can see at a glance 
that such a mode of setting posts will render a fence far more 
substantial, and much less liable to be made to lean either way 
by any influence which causes a fence to deviate from a perpen- 



FiG. 34. 



MANNER OF SBITING FENCE POSTS FOR A DIVISION FENCE. 



dicular position. The boards of each panel are independent of 
each other ; they may all be put up without any sawing off. In 
making a fence of this style, all the posts at the ends of the 



106 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

boards should be set on a line with each other ; and then the 
posts, at the middle of the boards, should be set about half an 
inch on the other side of the line. There is no face side to such 
a fence, both sides being alike, and there are no joints to make, 
nor to break, as in fences of other styles. After the boards are 
all nailed on, a ridge of earth, twenty two inches high, should be 
cast up under the boards, and seeded with grass. As the grass 
seed sometimes all washes from the top of such a ridge, a row of 
sods should be laid on the top of it, beneath the bottom boards. 



SELF-SUSTAINING BOARD FENCES 

125. Are the most disagreeable nuisances that ever dishonored 
a farm. It is perfectly ridiculous to talk of making a good self- 
sustaining board fence that will bear any worthy comparison with 
a good post and board fence, either in point of cheapness or per- 
manency. I have never seen a model of a self-sustaining board 
fence (unless it had as much worm, or even more, than a rail 
fence) which was fit for any other purpose than to entrap the 
credulous, or to be kept in the museum. I am well aware that 
there are several styles of self-sustaining patent board fences, 
which have been extolled to the clouds, and which, at first sight, 
appear to be a great improvement in fencing. They look well, 
and seem to stand permanently ; but after a few — yes, very few — 
years of exposure to the influences of the weather, they begin to 
twist and warp, and give way in important places by decaying 
or shrinking, so that they soon become as "shackling" as a 
rickety old wagon. When it becomes necessary to give much 
worm to a board fence, in order to save posts, any good arithme- 
tician can show by figures, in a few moments, how many more 
feet of boards it will require to build a zigzag fence than a 
straight one, and it will be easy to show how many feet of boards 
will be used up in making locks and cleats, and such like, for 
the purpose of holding the fence erect. He can then calculate 
how much that redundant lumber is worth, which is required to 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 107 

build a zigzag board fence, over and above what is required to 
build a straight fence. After this, calculations may be made for 
posts ; and the cost of posts for a straight fence compared with 
the cost for a redundant quantity of lumber for a zigzag fence. 
A zigzag, self-sustaining fence cannot be made without using up 
lumber of some kind for locks and cleats, nearly as many feet as 
there are in a post. And so with a straight fence : there must 
of necessity be about so many square feet of lumber for the 
standard, and cross-pieces and sills, or locks and stakes, as the 
case may be ; and there is more or less waste in working up such 
material, and by close calculation it will, in most instances, equal 
the amount of lumber in the posts required for a panel. If self- 
sustaining fences would continue to be permanent for as many 
years as a post fence, there would be some good encouragement 
for adopting that style of fence, but the standards will shrink, and 
the locks will become loose, and if the cross pieces are not painted 
where they are joined together, they will soon rot away; and the 
stakes, or pins, unless of the best of timber, and nearly as large 
as a fence post, will soon become loose and rotten, and the first 
heavy gale of wind will scatter the fragments as if it were a little 
boy's cob house. Patentees of self-sustaining fences will denounce 
me as a ninny for such words against their fences ; but unless 
there shall a style of fence appear, which has never come under 
my observation, entirely different from any that is now in use* 
what has been penned will prove true to the letter in the experi- 
ence of every one who may give such fences a fair trial. A good 
post and board fence is the fence for thrifty farmers ; one that will 
stand firmly and erect, without repairs, for a score of years ; and 
one that will not crouch, like a sneaking cur before a bullock, 
when he shakes his horns at it. When fence posts can be pur- 
chased for ten or twelve cents each, it will be the wisest policy 
and the cheapest, and infinitely better in the end, to make post 
and board fences, instead of being perplexed with such vexatious 
appendages as self-sustaining board fences. 

126. But as there is such an insatiable thirst in many Ameri- 
cans for new things, I deem it best to furnish some specimens of 



108 



THE YOUNG farmer's MANUAL. 



self-sustaining fence; and those who choose can adopt them in 
fence building, if they prefer either style, to a post and board fence. 
There are a number of patents on self-sustaining zigzag board 
fences, which, when they are new^ appear quite substantial and 
efficient ; but I consider them a poor apology for a fence. If a 
self-sustaining board fence is needed of a zigzag style, the best 
way is, to nail the boards to pieces of scantling as long as the 
height of the fence, having the corner standards, to which one end 
of two panels is nailed, standing on flat stone. But such a style 
of fence requires one-third more lumber than a straight fence, 
although it will be almost equal to a post fence in point of perma- 
nency and durability ; and it will occupy a large space of ground, 
too much for an ordinary fence. It is poor economy to build a zig- 
zag board fence. All self-sustaining fences that I have ever seen, 
were very deficient in point of durability for a number of years. 
But there are several styles of board fence which are not exactly 
self-sustaining, although they pass under that name. For a per- 
manent fence, let me have a good 
post and board fence, even when a 
self-sustaining fence can be made for 
about half the expense of it ; and, at 
the end of twenty-five or thirty 
years, if the expense is not in favor 
of the post and board fence, I am no 
arithmetician. 

127. It is very convenient, many 
times, to have what is called a surface 
fence ; and in some localities, where 
the soil is not deep enough to set 
fence posts on account of rocks, it is 
desirable to have some device by 
means of which the standards of a 
fence may be kept erect. At Fig. 
35 is a representation of a standard 
for board fence, which subserves a 
very good purpose for that object, and many prefer it to posts. 



Fig. 35. 




STAND ABD FOE STTEFAOE 
BOARD FENCE. 



THE YOUNG FARMEK's MANUAL. 



109 



a a are two standards, made of 1^ inch lumber, about seven 
inches wide at bottom and three at top, with gains sawed in the 
edges for receiving the ends of the fence boards. 5 is a sill, 
about three feet long, two inches thick, and four inches wide. The 
two standards pass through the sill, and are fastened with kejs on 
the under side of it. Keys are preferable to pins, because, if the 
standards shrink a little, thej can be tightened a little with keys ; 
but with pins through the sills, they could not be tightened 
so readily. The tops of the standards are fastened with a band, 
or small carriage bolt, after the boards are put in the gains. 
The ends of the sills are supported by flat stones, or blocks of 
wood, and kept in place by stakes well driven into the ground, 
as at c. The gains in every alternate standard may be just 
wide enough to receive the thickness of each board. Notch- 
es are sawed in one side of the boards to prevent their slid- 
ing endwise. This style of fence is made without any nails, 
and it can all be made in 
the workshop, and carried 

to the field, and put up ^e 

in a short period of time. 
If it is preferred, stakes 

Fig. 36. 



Fig. 37. 





BTANDAKD FOR StTEFACE 
BOABD FENCE. 



GABRIEL^S PATENT POBTABLB BOARD 

FENCE. 



can be driven through holes near the ends of the sills for holding 
them in place. 



110 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

128. Fig. 36 represents a different style of standard. The 
sills may be about two by four inches square, with the standards 
passing through and keyed on the under side. Each side is 
braced with wires, twisted together to hold it firm. When wire 
braces are used and twisted up tightly, there is no need of keying or 
pinning the standard. The gains may be sawed in the standard 
with a circular saw, about half an inch deep, and the boards 
nailed to it. Large flat stones may be used for sills; or, the 
standards may be set on a rock, and the bottom kept from moving 
by drilling a half-inch hole one inch deep in the rock, and two 
inches deep in the bottom of the standard, and putting in a half- 
inch iron dowel pin. Holes are drilled for the wire braces, and 
made fast in the rocks by melted lead, and the wires afterwards 
twisted together. Or a heavy stone may be placed on each end 
of a sill, to keep the fence in the proper position ; but it will require 
nearly as much timber for the sills and standards as it would for 
posts ; and it will require more labor to make the standards, than 
it would to set the posts three feet deep. 

129. Fig. 37 represents Gabriel's patent portable board fence 
standard, which appears to meet with much approbation by most 
farmers, a a are standards made of inch boards, fastened to the 
top after the boards are put in the gains by a wooden yoke, or a 
little band of iron e; c c is a horizontal strip of board, about thirty 
inches long and five wide ; and the standards may be nailed or 
screwed to it at the bottom, h h are two pieces of boards fitted 
neatly between the stakes d d and the standards, and firmly nailed 
to the board c c. The stakes d d are one inch thick. Another 
board of the size of c c must be nailed on the opposite side of the 
standards. The standards may extend below the sills, as shown by 
the dotted lines, and the fence rest on these points ; or the ends 
of the sills may rest on stones. The standards for this fence may 
all be made in the workshop ; but if the fence is to be set up where 
it deviates from one direct horizontal line, the gains in the edges 
of the fence boards should not be made until the time when the 
fence is to be put up. In making such a fence up or down a hill, the 
standards should all be set perpendicularly, and not at a right 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. Ill 

angle with the surface of the ground. Many farmers like a style 
of fence called 

HALF WIRE AND HALF WOOD FENCE, 

130. Or, a board and wire fence. The posts for such a fence 
may be set, as shown at Fig. 34, paragraph 124, and a top board 
and bottom board be nailed on above the ridge of earth, and two or 
three wires fastened on the posts, between these boards, with 
staples. Three wires between the bottom and top boards, when 
there is a ridge of earth along the fence, will turn sheep. 

131. I have a fence four and a half feet high, thirty rods in 
length, with only a top sugar maple-board four inches wide, and 
three number eleven wires below it, with a ridge of earth twenty 
inches high, which has turned most effectually, ever since it was 
built, (four years since,) calves, cows, oxen, horses and colts; and 
they have never broken a wire, although crops were always on 
the other side of it. I own a young bull, which made many 
desperate efforts to get through it, without any success. The 
posts are eight feet apart, and the wires were never strained as 
they ought to have been, because it was my first experiment in 
using wire ; and I see no reason, at present, why that fence will 
not remain permanent, as it now is, for ten or fifteen years to 
come. I state this to show what three small wires and one nar- 
row board have done. 

132. Fig. 38 represents a substantial barn-yard board fence. 
As such fences should always be tight, i. e., no spaces between 
the boards, on account of shielding animals from cold winds when 
they are not in their stalls, the best, neatest, and most economical 
manner of building them is, to set the posts three feet deep, and 
frame the rails, which should be of scantling, not less than three 
by three inches square, from post to post, as in building picket 
fence, and nail the boards to the corners instead of the sides 
of the rails. (See Fig. 49.) Such a fence should be about 
six feet high. In that case the top rail should be about four 
feet from the ground, and the bottom rail about twenty inches 
from the ground. It looks better and is better, all things 

5* 



112 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 



considered, to allow the boards to extend nearly to the ground, 
instead of nailing on a bottom board, horizontally, below the 
vertical boards, as is often done ; and, more than all this, 

Fig. 38. 



r 



Li 



SECTION OF BARJf-TARD FENCE. 



boards will not wear out as soon in the weather, when placed 
vertically, as when in a horizontal position. It is a good idea to 
place a row of flat stones under the bottom of the boards of such 
a fence, in order to keep them dryer, by keeping away weeds and 
grass. After the boards are nailed on the yard side of the fence, 
battens two inches wide, portions of which are shown, should be 
nailed over the boards, into eacli rail, with large nails. A line 
should then be struck at the tops of the boards, and all sawed off 
straight, and a cap nailed on the top of the boards, which is made 
of strips of two-inch plank, two and a half or three inches wide, 
and two inches thick, with a groove half an inch deep, and an 
inch wide on the under side of it, for receiving the tops of the 
boards. The corners of the cap are to be planed off before nail- 
ing on. This cap keeps the tops of boards dry, and prevents 
their springing, and warping in and out, and makes a fence much 
stronger, besides adding very greatly to its workmanlike appear- 
ance. If it is preferred to cut picket points in the top ends of 
the boards, it can be done most expeditiously by marking them 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 



113 




EIB FKXCE. 



all out with a pattern, and cutting them with a circular horse 
saw. 

THE EIB FENCE. 

133. Fig. 39 represents a kind of fence which suits the fancy 
of some men better than any other style of fence. The posts 
are about five or six inches Fkj. 39. 

square, and three-inch holes 
bored in the sides, two inches 
deep, for the ribs. The ribs 
are about two and a half 
inches square. They may 
entet the posts by mortise 
and tenon, although that 
style increases the labor of 
making it. The ribs, if 
square, should be put in as 
shown in the cut, with one 
corner upwards and one 
downwards, as they will make less space between them than if 
they were placed with a flat side up. The ribs should be about 
eight feet long, and with the corners cut off a little the ends will 
enter a three-inch hole. (See BoRiNa Posts with Boring Ma- 
chine, Fig. 122.) 

134. By adjusting a three-inch auger by the side of a railway 
horse-power, so as to make about as many revolutions in a minute 
as the band wheel, with one horse a man could bore a large lot 
of posts in a few hours. And as the ribs are put up when the 
posts are set, one workman would be able to put up a long string 
of it in a day. A line should be stretched, when setting the 
posts, parallel with the top rib, so that one panel will not pitch 
down nor slant up too much. "When the ribs are put in place 
tlie ends should be well painted. This is a very economical and 
substantial fence, requiring no nails, pins, nor wires. Should ^ 
rail or rib get broken at the middle of a fence, dig one post loose 
on one side of it, and lean it to one side of the fence and put in 
a new rib, and then set it up and fasten the post in its forme]! 



114 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

erect position. Five ribs in that position will give a width of 
nearly eighteen inches, and the spaces thirty inches, which makes 
a fence four feet high ; but the two lower ribs may be left out 
and a ridge of earth thrown up in their place, which would be 
as effectual as a fence five feet high. A two-inch round tenon at 
tlie ends of the ribs would be proportionally stronger than the 
middle of the same stick, eight or ten feet long, when of the size 
mentioned. Where the timber is all hard wood, it would be 
^uite as economical to saw it into ribs two and a half inches square 
as into inch boards ; and put them up with nails, because boards 
of hard wood are, sometimes, ugly and hard things to drive nails 
through without boring them for the nails. 

SECTION III. WIRE FENCE. 

" Glorious triumphs wire brings ! 
Wire fences, wire springs ! 
Wire into " hoops " is curled ! 
Wire soon will span the world." — Ingersoix. 

135. The time has been, and it was but a few years ago, too, 
when wire fences were considered by the great majority of peo- 
ple as an unwise experiment, which could never possibly be 
attended with success ; and, even in the last decade of years, wire 
fences have been decried and condemned by many able corres- 
pondents of agricultural journals, which were sound on all the 
other ordinary subjects connected with the operations of the farm ; 
and in some instances the editors themselves have imbibed the false 
inspiration, and have coincided with their respected correspond- 
ents in their views with regard to the certain failure of wire 
fences, and have denounced wire fence from besrinninfi: to end as 
an *' exploded humbug." For many years wire fences were 
laughed at by almost every one who passed by ; and every old 
fogy would Avag his head and denounce the inventor, and build- 
ers also, as " incorrigible ninnies," and would utter all sorts of 
most direful prognostications against wire fence, and everything 
else that resembled it. 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 115 

136. It cannot be denied that there have been scores and hun- 
dreds of instances in building wire fence, in which it would seem 
that the experiment was a most complete failure; and many farm- 
ers, who have ever entertained a very favorable opinion of wire 
fences, when they have come to see the report of those who 
have experimented (very superficially) in building such fence, 
" that wire fence could not be relied upon for protecting culti- 
vated fields from unruly cattle," have been fully deterred from 
ever attempting to build a fence of wire, notwithstanding their 
own good judgment has always seemed to be in favor of such a 
fence as a most complete success. If a substantial, permanent, 
and impassable fence can be built of wire, what mean so many 
failures in building it ? Why so many rods of worthless, ineffi- 
cient obstruction between adjoining fields, denominated wire fence, 
which animals of all kinds pass and repass at pleasure ? The 
reason is plain, and the remedy is very obvious and simple, and 
the failures may all be expressed in one short sentence — imper- 
fect construction. Because one or two, or one hundred, individ- 
uals have failed in building an impassable wire fence, it affords no 
plausible reason why a most permanent and impassable fence 
may not be erected of the same materials. "We have no hesi- 
tancy in ajB&rming, that the failures have always been, without 
one single exception, attributable to imperfect construction, and 
not to any deficiency or imperfection of the materials used for 
such a purpose. 

137. But fences of wire are no longer viewed as an object of 
doubtful utility by men of enterprise and of practical common 
sense, in building fences of any kind. Wire fences, with posts of 
durable wood or of iron, are among the most permanent, impassable, 
and economical fences which can be erected, especially in locali- 
ties where materials, in the shape of stone or wood, cannot be 
obtained at a fair price. It argues a great destitution of the 
knowiedge of the strength and efficiency of materials, to admit 
that a wire fence cannot be erected, which will turn, most effect- 
ually, the most unruly animals that any one has no fears of giv- 
ing tlieir liberty in the open fields. 



116 THE YOUNG FARxMER'S MANUAL. 

138. The chief difficulty, which has been almost invariably 
the cause of failure in the permanency of a wire fence, is, the 
snapping of the wires by animals bounding along, and plunging, 
when in full speed, against them. It is an unusual thing for wires 
which are destitute of flaws, to be broken by the simple pushing 
and hooking of an animal. A bullock, or any other animal, will 
not thrust very powerfully with his nose or neck against a bare 
wire, consequently a small wire will resist effectually all the force 
that an animal is disposed to apply to it. But when an animal 
plunges against a wire with rapid fury, something must give way, 
or he will be, perhaps, a little harmed by such an unceremonious 
rencounter. If we stretch up a lot of wires, and animals have 
nothing to admonish them that they are approaching an obstruc- 
tion, when running at full speed, a wire fence is a dangerous obstruc- 
tion to place in a field. When a wire fence is built thus, it is very 
imperfectly constructed ; and if the wires should be snapped 
asunder, or the fence completely demolished, or animals seriously 
injured, we need not be filled with wonder, because something of 
that nature would be only a natural and certain result. "When 
a wire fence is erected in a proper manner, animals will very 
soon learn where it stands, and they will no sooner plunge against 
it than they will against a rail or a board fence. "When a wire 
fence is built across a field where the ground is entirely smooth 
on both' sides of it, and also where it stands, if the posts are 
some ten or twelve feet apart, and nothing but bare wires from 
post to post, colts and young cattle, when running, unless they 
have learned that -there is an impassable obstruction along the 
line of posts, will be very liable to attempt to pass between the 
posts, when running at full speed. But if a ridge of earth, from 
one to two feet high, be thrown up along the posts, or if a nar- 
row board be nailed on the posts at the top, or even at the bot- 
tom, they will never plunge against it when running. It is 
always best to have a narrow board at the top of the posts, when 
it can be obtained readily. But in case boards are not at hand, 
a ridge of earth along the posts is a consideration of the first 
importance in building wire fences, because, if animals do not see 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 117 

the wire they will see tiie ridge of earth, and will quickly learn 
that wires are above it. 

WIRE. 

139. Wire is obtained at the manufactory or at hardware 
stores in large coils ; and sometimes the wire of a large coil will 
be several hundred feet in length, and sometimes there will be a 
score or more of pieces in one coil. In purchasing wire for fences, 
the builder should see to it that the coils are not all pieces of wire, 
because it is much more convenient to make fences of long wire 
than it is of a lot of pieces, the ends of which must be firmly 
united before they can be used. 

140. Wire for fences is usually annealed at the manufactory ; but 
when it is not annealed before it is to be used, a whole coil or more 
may be thrown on a brush heap when it is burning, or a small 
fire may be kindled of wood for the purpose of heating it. Wire 
should not be thrown into a fire where it will become heated to a 
white heat, lest it become materially injured. All that is neces- 
sary is, to place it in a gentle fire that will heat it all to redness ; 
and then, by allowing it to remain in the fire until it has all 
burned down, and the wire has become cool, it will be as phable 
almost as lead, and very tenacious ; and the ends may be twisted 
together without danger of breaking them. 

141. The dijfferent sizes of fence wire are usually distinguished 
by numbers. The following. Fig. 40, will give a very correct 

Fig. 40. 



6 7 8 9 10 Jl tz 13" 

SIZES or FENCR WtBB. 

idea of the diameter of the various sizes, from three to thirteen, 
which diminish regularly in size. No. 3 wire is exactly one- 
fourth of an inch in diameter ; No. 6 is about three-sixteenths in 
diameter ; and No. 11 is about one-eighth in diameter. 

142. Fig. 41 represents the most common mode of uniting the 
ends of wires. In uniting the ends of large wires, it is advisable 
to have a small fire at hand in order to heat the ends when they 



118 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

are to be twisted. An iron kettle full of burning coals will sub- 
serve a good purpose. It is not always an easy job to unite the 
ends of large wire when they are cold ; but by heating them to 

Fig. 41. 



MANXER OF UJJITLNG THB WIRES. 

redness they may be bent very readily without danger of break- 
ing them. 

143. When a coil of wire is uncoiled, the coil should be rolled 
along like a hoop, or hung on a reel, until it is all uncoiled ; be- 
cause, if it be uncoiled by allowing it to run off at the side, the 
wire will be twisted just as many times around as there are rings 
in the coil. And twisting wire very often produces a kink or a 
number of kinks in it, and causes it to break before it has been 
strained to half its proper tension for a fence. When wire is to 
be coiled up, instead of winding it around anything as we do a 
cord or a string, the coil should be rolled over and over like a 
hoop, in order to avoid twisting it, or wound up on a reel. 

144. The most expeditious manner of separating a wire, either 
large or small, is, to file a groove with a triangular file on two 
opposite sides; and if the wire be a large one, file entirely around 
it, and then bend it back and forth a few times, when it will sep- 
arate very readily. It is by no means an easy matter to break 
a piece of annealed wire simply by bending it back and forth, 
unless it is held firmly by two pairs of pinchers or tongs. 

145. Doubtless the beginner will often be in doubt as to the 
most proper size of wire for fences for ordinary purposes. One 
man will recommend No. 3, or 4, or 5, or some other number, as 
the most suitable ; but he must exercise a httle judgment of his 
own in this respect. As a general rule, those farmers who have 
built wire fences, and have reported their success in the Agri- 
cultural journals, have used twice or thrice as large wire as was 
necessary. Many have insisted on Nos. 3 and 4 as the only suit- 
able sizes. There can be no disadvantage in using a large wire; 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 119 

but wlien a wire two-thirds smaller, which costs only two-thirds 
as much, will subserve the same purpose as a larger one, the small 
one is to be preferred. There is no propriety whatever in using 
No. 3 or No. 4 wire in building ordinary fences. Wire of such a 
size would hold to draw out all the posts to which it might be 
attached, without breaking. Hitch a span of horses to one end, 
and let us see if, by fair drawing, they can separate it. By no 
means, if there are no flaws in it. There can be no consistency 
in using wire for fences which will resist three or four times as 
much as the posts to which they are attached. It is much better, 
and more economical also, to use a larger number of wires of a 
medium size, than to use a few very large ones. Wire should 
be strong enough to resist the force of the animals which it is 
designed to fence against. For fencing against small, peaceable 
animals, like sheep. No. 12 or 13 wire is sufficiently large and 
strong ; and for horned cattle and horses. No. 9 will turn any- 
thing that wears horns ; and any animal that will thrust 
into a fence, when it is properly made, with force enough 
to break a sound No. 11 wire, should not have liberty in an 
open field. 

146. The manner of fastening the wires to the posts is a very 
important consideration. Bending the wires around sharp cor- 
ners of the posts should always be avoided, as wires are very 
liable to break when drawn tightly across a sharp corner. The 
ends of the wires may be fastened to the end post of the fence, 
by being passed entirely around it, after the corners have been 
rounded off a little ; or they may be put through the post in a 
half-inch hole, and the ends of two of them twisted together; or, 
after the ends have been put through the post, they may be 
wrapped round a rod of wood, and the ends twisted round the 
same wire ; or the ends, after having been put through the post, 
may be turned into holes in the post, and plugged up tightly 
with a hard wood plug. The wires may be fastened to the inter- 
mediate posts by driving staples over them, or by sawing gains 
in the sides of the posts for the wires, and nailing a strip of hard 
wood on every post, to keep the wires in the gains, or gashes. 



120 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

Strips one inch by two square are sufficiently large ; but if the 
posts should be square, they should be about as wide as the posts. 
But the best way of fastening the wires is, to bore half-inch holes 
through the posts for the wires, and, if thought best, pins of hard 
wood may be driven into each hole, which will hold them firmly. 
A little care and skill are necessary in boring the holes, in order 
to have them straight with the wires. If they should be bored 
crooked, or not in a line with the wires, the wires will bind on 
the sides of the holes with so much force that it will be very 
difficult, in straining them, to bring them up to the desired 
tension. 

147. A pair of pliers for holding the wire, and a pair of pinchers 
for twisting it, are indispensable in putting up the wires, and a 
triangular file to aid in separating them. 

148. Staples can be obtained at the hardware stores much 
cheaper than they can be made by hand. In driving them, if 
the posts are very hard, holes, a little smaller than the staples, 
should be bored in the posts, about half the length of the staples ; 
otherwise the posts will be split, or the staples " stove up " be- 
fore they are half driven in so as to hold the wire. 

149. The size of the posts is another very important matter. 
It is not necessary to have posts for wire fence as large as they 
are for a board fence, providing they possess equal strength. 
One very common defect in wire fences have been posts that were 
too small. It is necessary to have posts which possess as much 
strength for a wire fence as for a board fence ; otherwise a fence 
wiU be very deficient in fair proportion and symmetry. Many 
farmers have recommended posts for wire fence only two inches 
square. What a lack of common sense ! Half a thrust by a heavy 
horse or ox, unless such posts were of the very best timber, would 
break them off at the surface of the ground ; and, more than that, 
posts but two inches square are too smaU on the score of econ- 
omy. It is true, that the wood of a small post may not decay 
sooner than a large one ; but, allowing that they decay alike, 
when a half-inch or more of the outside of a small post is gone, 
there will be but little remaining ; whereas, a half-inch of the wood 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 



121 



of a large post may decay, and it will be injured but little. In- 
termediate 2^osts for wire fence should never be smaller than 
three by four inches at the lower end, and one and a half by 
three inches at the upper end. But if they were one inch or 
more larger than this each way, they would last many years 
longer, provided they have been cut at the best season of the 
year for cutting timber, and seasoned a year or more previous to 
setting them in the ground. 

THE PRINCIPAL MANIPULATIONS IN M^AKING A WIRE FENCE. 

150. Suppose, for example, we wish to make a wire fence 
thirty or forty rods, more or less, in length : let a stake be set at 
each end, and then set a dozen or more stakes in range with 
these, one or two feet high ; plow a furrow where these stakes 
are standing, as deep as practicable, and straight as a hne ; by 
using a double team and a large plow, very much of the labor of 
digging the holes may be saved in a little time, by plowing a fur- 
row twenty inches deep, or more (see Digging Post Holes, 226). 
Set the straining-posts, Fig. 42, three and a half or four feet 
deep ; they should be made of good timber, not less in size than 
three inches by six square, with two-inch auger -p 
holes in one of them, and holes two inches 
square in the other. In order to have the 
holes correspond exactly with each other, the 
square holes should be made before the post is 
set, and after they are set the auger can be run 
through the square holes in order to bore those 
in the opposite post. These posts should be 
set at least three inches apart. 

151. The strainers are represented at a,, 
which should be made of the most firm and 
tenacious wood, about one foot in length, 
with four inches of one end four square, and 
the remainder turned round. The wires are 
put in a small hole through these strainers, ^ 
and wound up with a wooden wrench h, three 



42. 




PAIR OF STRAINTNG- 
POSIS. 



122 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

feet long, fitted to the square end of the strainers. When the 
wires are sufficiently tight let the strainer be driven into the 
square hole, and the wrench taken off. When a wire is to be 
loosened, drive the strainer a part of the way out, and let it un- 
wind. 

152. Set an anchor-post firmly at the other end of the fence. 
The anchor-post and straining-posts should never be more than 
forty rods apart. In making a long line of fence, straining-posts 
should be set every forty rods, in which case they will answer 
for both anchor-posts and straining-posts. They should also be 
well braced. Let them be set perpendicularly on the work side. 
Set one post about six rods from the straining-posts, perpendicu- 
larly, and then stretch two lines from this post to the straining- 
posts, one at the top, and one near the bottom, and set the posts 
by these lines. By having two lines, a workman will be able 
to get the posts more in a line than when only one line is used, 
with the plum rule (see Fig. 105) to keep them perpendicular. 
When all the posts are set between the anchor-post and straining- 
posts, let the top wire be attached and strained in part, or nearly 
as tight as it can be. The aim of the workman now is, to strike 
a line on the sides of the posts near the tops of them, which shall 
be parallel with the surface of the ground, were it even and 
smooth, and free from depressions and little knolls. If the sur- 
face of the ground is level, there will be no difficulty in doing it ; 
but when the surface is undulating, it will require a little skill to 
do it in a workmanlike manner. Let the workman stand at the 
straining-posts, and look forward along the posts to a point where 
the ground begins to rise or descend. On the post which is 
nearest that point, raise the wire or fence line as high on that 
post as it is at the straining-posts, and support it with a nail. 
From this post cast the eye forward to the next point which de- 
viates from a direct line, and support the line or wire on a post 
there with a nail. Let the top wire be adjusted after this man- 
ner throughout the entire length of the fence. Let the workman 
go back, and where the wire does not seem to be parallel with 
the surface of the ground, let it be adjusted by sticking a nail 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 



123 




under it where it seems to need raising a little, and a nail or two 
above it where it seems to be a little too high. Fig. 43 will give 
the builder some cor- Pj^ ^3 

rect ideas on the sub- 
ject, bj which the 
top wire or line is 
properly adjusted, 
parallel with the gen- 
eral surface of the ground. Sharp angles in the rising and 
falling of the fence, as shown at a & of the preceding figure, 
should be avoided as much as practicable. After the 
top wire or line is adjusted as correctly as may be, let 
the workman stand away from it three or four rods, and 

walk the whole length of the fence at that distance from ^ 

. . . "^ 

it ; and if it appears all right, the next operation will be 't* 

to mark off the distances on the sides of the posts, by | 

means of a board six or eifjht inches wide, with notches -^ 

made in it, like Fig. 44, as far apart as the holes are to S 

be bored, or the wires to be fastened. The upper notch p 

of the marking board should be placed even with the top 

wire, and then there will be no liability to mark some 

posts wrong. 

153. Let the holes be bored with a good auger bit instead of 

an auger, as a man can bore more than twice as fast with a bit as 

with a small auger, and with much less fatigue. When the holes 

are bored, the wires may be put in and fastened at one end, and 

drawn up as tightly by hand as they can be, and then attached 

to the strainers, (see Fig. 42). It is a good practice to hitch a 

horse to one end of the wires, and draw them up as tightly as 

practicable before attaching them to the strainers. When it is 

necessary to unite a wire where it is in two parts, the junction 

should be midway between two posts, lest it should be too large 

to go through the hole in the posts. If the wires are to be fastened 

with staples, the staples should all be driven almost in before. 



124 THE YOUNG FAKMER's MANUAL. 



STRAINING THE WIRES. 

154. Let tlie ends of the wires be firmly secured in the strainers, 
after having greased them with a Uttle lard to make them turn 
easily, and draw them up ?.s tight as possible without breaking the 
wrench or the strainers. About ten or fifteen rods from the 
straining-posts let a man step on the wires, and spring up and 
down on them ; and if they stretch any let them be drawn up 
tighter. In warm weather the wires should be drawn up tight, 
as they expand in warm weather and contract in cold weather, 
about one inch in a hundred feet. As the cold weather comes 
on the wires may be loosened a little, as there is some danger of 
their breaking by their tendency to contract. There is but little 
danger, however, of their breaking by contracting. 

155. "When wires pass through the posts, some fence-makers 
prefer to drive a pin into each hole to keep the wires from ren- 
dering when anything presses against them ; and when they are 
fastened by staples, some prefer to drive the staples tight on the 
wires. The most advisable way, probably, is, to fasten the wires 
at posts nearly a hundred feet apart, and then, if it is necessary 
to loosen or tighten them, it can be done at less expense than if 
they were fastened to every post. 

156. The top board (see Fig. 46) may now be nailed on, and 
if desirable, the tops of the posts may be sawed ofi'and a cap board 
put on. Or, what would be still less work, let a scantling about 
three by three inches square be firmly nailed on the tops of the 
posts. It will add very much to the durability of both wires and 
boards to have them well painted with paint or coal, tar, or Japan, 
especially where they touch the posts and where the wires pass 
through the posts. By using a very small brush, paint can be 
worked into the holes on each side of the posts. 

157. When posts are more than eight or ten feet apart, stay 
wires may be used to prevent an animal from thrusting his head 
between the wires of the fence. For this purpose No. 12 wire 
is sufficiently large, but should be well annealed before it is 
used. It is attached, first, to the top or bottom wire of the 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 



125 



fence, by wrapping one end two or three times around it, and 
then by passing once around each of the other wires, being careful 
to keep them at their proper distance apart. 

158. The final operation now will be, to cast up a ridge of 
earth along the fence, twenty or more inches high, and seed it 
with grass seed. A wire fence should seldom be made without 
such a ridge. 

159. Another mode of buildmg wire fence, where posts of wood 
are scarce, and iron and stone abundant, is, to use iron posts and 
stone sills for the intermediate posts. Figure 45 represents an 
iron post, which is made of wrought iron, about three-eighths of an 



Fig. 45. 



ID 



8 



U 



inch' thick at the lower end, and three-six- 
teenths thick at top, and three-quarters ivide 
at top, and an inch and a half wide at bottom, 
with shoulder on each side of the tenon, which 
is passed through the sill and fastened with a 
key, or nut and screw. A shoulder one-fourth 
of an inch deep on e^ch side is sufficient, 
and the tenon may be tapered from the shoul- 
der to the lower end of it, when a nut is used 
to fasten the posts ; but an iron key is the 
best and cheapest, in the end of tenon, and 
is, usually, more convenient. The best way 
to obtain such posts would be, to give the 
dimensions of them to the proprietor of some 
manufactory of iron, and have them rolled out, 
and holes punched for wires and keys, where machinery for such 
purposes is used, and then the expense of them would be but 
one cent or so on a pound more than for ordinary bars of iron. 
The sills may be made of almost any kind of stone. A sill six 
inches wide and four thick, and three feet in length, is a good 
size. Stone for flagging, which are not more than two inches 
thick, may be used for that purpose, providing they are not less 
than three feet long and eighteen or twenty inches wide. Bowl- 
ders and blocks of square stone, weighing several hundred pounds 
each, may be used by drilling holes in them three or four inches 



IKON POSTS FOE 
WIRE FENCE. 



126 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

deep, and by placing the iron tenon in the hole, and by pouring 
in melted lead to make it solid. Such posts may also be fastened 
into blocks of wood, or into plugs of wood driven into the ground 
as deep as for fence posts. 

160. In making a wire fence with iron posts inserted in sills 
of stone, it is best to form a ridge of earth where the fence is to 
stand, about twenty inches high, and three feet wide on the top, 
and seed it with grass seed, allowing it to settle one season; and 
then place the sills in which the iron posts have been set, on the 
surface of the ridge, in a line with each other, as in setting posts 
of wood. Bowlders, into which posts have been set, may be 
sunk a few inches into the ridsre in order to make the holes in 
the posts stand in range with each other. Posts set in this 
manner may seem to some people like a very superficial fabric, 
possessing little permanency, but after such posts have been 
placed a few weeks, let a man move them, if he can, by taking 
hold of the iron posts. Such posts may be placed thirty feet apart 
on the ridge, and two or three stay wires put on the main wires, 
between the posts. In order to prevent swine from lifting the 
bottom wire, the stay wires may be first fastened to the stakes 
driven into the ridge, and then passed around the other wires to 
the top wire. After the wires have been put in and strained, the 
holes may be plugged with hard wood to keep them from rendering 
back and forth when the wires are pressed sideways. A fence 
made after this plan will remain permanent, without doubt, as 
long as one man usually wants a fence. If the posts should ever 
become a little inclined, they may be readily set erect by raising 
one end of the sills. 



THE NUMBER OF WIRES 

161. In a fence will always depend upon the size of the animals 
to be turned by the fence. No sheep, cattle, or swine, of a hun- 
dred pounds weight, will be able to pass between the wires of a 
fence like Fig. 46, when the wires are well strained. In merely 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 



127 



Fig. 46. 




SECmON OF WTRE FENCE. 



fencing against horned cat- 
tle and horses, there is no 
necessity of having any of 
the wires less than eight or 
ten inches apart, and they 
should never be more than 
ten inches apart. The bot- 
tom wires, which are de- 
signed to turn sheep and 
swine, may be no larger 
than number twelve or 
thirteen, as no sheep nor 
swine will be able to break a wire of that size! The strongest wires 
should always be placed about as high as the shoulders of horned 
cattle and horses. 

162. There are several modes of straining the wires of a fence 
besides the one noticed in paragraph 154, but for convenience, 
cheapness, efficiency and practicability, they are inferior to this. 
Straining wires by having a small iron screw and swivel in each 
wire is a good way, but is usually too expensive. There are 
modes of having all the wires pass through holes in an upright 
roller, and then with an iron lever the roller is turned round, and 
the wires are strained from the ends of the fence towards the mid- 
dle of the fence, by being wound up on the roller from each way. 
But" this is a very inefficient manner of straining Avires, and he 
who adopts it will be glad to abandon it before he has been able 
to bring all the wires to a uniform tension. There are several 
other very neat modes of fastening wires to the posts, but some 
are too expensive, and others are not worthy of adopting. 



THE LOWELL WIRE FENCING. 



163. Fig. 47 represents a style of wire fencing which cannot 
fail, ultimately, to supersede every other style of wire fencing. 
Wire of every size is woven into cloth, or network, by machin- 
ery, with the meshes of various sizes. Tlie meshes are usually 
about eight inches wide. After the wires are woven, the whole 



128 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

of it is well coated with Japan, which is made from asphaltum, 
which prevents its rusting. About 20 or 25 rods in length of it 
are then rolled up in bales, as shown bj the figure, which weigh 
from 200 to 300 lbs. ; when it can be transported to any locality, 
and put up by almost any farmer. The very efficient manner in 

Fig. 4V. 




A BALE OF LOWELL WIRE FENQNG. 



which the meshes are formed by the weaving of the wires, is rep- 
resented by Fig. 48. It will require the apphcation of a force 
almost equal to the strength of the wires to separate the meshes, 
by drawing on two of them w^hich are twisted together. 

164. The COST of such fencing depends on the width of the 
cloth and the size of the wire, varying from VSc. to $2.50 per 
lineal rod. The cut represents a strip of network thirty inches 
wide, with eight-inch meshes, made of Nos. 10 and 12 wire, weigh- 
ing five and three-quarter lbs. per rod, and is sold for 75c. per 
rod. W. J. Johnson, Boston, Mass., manufacturer, will send an 
illustrated catalogue of the various kinds and sizes which he 
manufactures. 

165. How to make the fence. — Set the posts from ten to twenty 
feet apart, according to the size of the wire and weight of cloth 
per lineal rod. If the cloth is narrow, cast up a ridge of earth 
along the posts. Set the straining-posts, which are represented 
at Fig. 42, and attach wires to the cloth, and wind them up with 
the strainers. When there are a number of straight strands of 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 



129 



wire in the cloth, they may be wound on the strainers. Fasten 
the cloth to the posts with small staples driven over the wires. 

166. In putting up such fence where the surface of the ground is 
undulating, the young farmer will meet with a difficulty which 
will puzzle many experienced mechanics to obviate. The wider 
the cloth is, the greater will be the difficulty. When a portion 

Fig. 48. 




MANNER OF WEAVING THE VIRES. 



of such cloth is put up on a straight course, and then the ground 
rises abruptly, the hottom of the cloth will be tight, and the top, 
or upper edge, will be very loose. In such cases a strip of cloth 
may be put up in a horizontal position, or at a given angle, and 
another strip put up at another angle, with a pair of straining- 
posts between them, so as to tighten the strips on both sides of 
the straining posts by one set of strainers. In any instance when 
either the lower or upper side of the cloth cannot be made tight, 
m consequence of the inequalities of the ground, cut one side of 
the cloth and take out a gore, or set straining posts, as already 
directed. 

SECTION 4. PICKET FENCE. 

'•The good did picket fences there surrouud 
The garden, vineyard, and the furrowed ground, 
To turn marauders, and nocturnal prigs, 
And roaming curs, and pesty, rooting pigs, 
And chanticleer, with majesty and pride. 
Strutting along, with partly by his side." — Edwards. 



130 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

167. There is probably a larger number of different styles of 
picket fence than of any other variety of fence, and the most fas- 
tidious can always find some style, among so great a variety, 
that will harmonize with his taste and fancy. There is greater 
adaptedness in picket fences to many purposes than in any other 
kind of fence ; and in some instances picket fence will subserve 
a purpose which could not, practically, be accomplished with 
any other kind of fence. As picket fences may be built of so 
many different styles, he who aims to erect a picket fence which 
shall be in good taste and harmony with his grounds a«id build- 
ings, if he knows exactly what he most desires, is not compelled 
to search a great length of time to find a style of fence which 
will come fully up to his ideas of what a picket fence should be. 
There is an appearance in picket fence which almost always affects 
surrounding objects more or less ; and not unfrequently a picket 
fence of correct style, to harmonize with surrounding objects, im- 
parts a beauty to the scenery which a board fence of the neatest 
style, or a stone fence, or hedge fence, would never impart. 
Picket fences have all the excellencies which can possibly be com- 
bined in any style of fence ; they may be strong or fragile, costly 
or cheap, neat and tasty, or awkward and homely, or ornamental, 
or plain, to any desirable degree. No style of fence, in my own 
estimation, adds more to the beauty of a spacious dooryard, or 
lawn, than a tasty picket fence. Although a board fence may 
be made as ornamental and tasty as such materials will admit of, 
still a picket fence seems never to fail to satisfy the caprice of the 
most fanciful. 

168. There is also an efficiency in many kinds of picket fence 
which no other kind of fence possesses. A picket fence will not 
only stop fowls from roaming on forbidden ground, but will often 
be the means of keeping the productions of the fruit-yard and gar- 
den in safety from pilfering interlopers, who would climb over a 
board fence and carry off, without difficulty, the delicious booty. 
A picket fence is usually a difficult, dangerous fence to climb 
over ; and for this reason, when orchards and fruit-yards and gar- 
dens have been encircled with a substantial picket fence, the pro- 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 131 

prietors liave feasted on their own fruit and vegetables, which 
they would never have tasted had their grounds been enclosed by 
any other kind of fence. "When a fruit-pilferer is passing a fruit- 
yard which is enclosed with a board fence that he can hojD over at 
any place, he is sure to glut his swinish palate with anything 
within his sight; whereas, had there been a picket fence he would 
have passed on, and found his booty somewhere else. Horses, 
horned cattle, and almost every other kind of animals, fowls and 
other bipeds, which belong to a higher order of creatures, not ex- 
cepted, which need to be fenced against, are usually more shy of 
a picket fence than of any other style of fence. Dogs will many 
times run many rods around a picket fence rather than jump over 
it, when, if a board fence of the same height were there, they 
would have bounded over it without any hesitancy. This is par- 
ticularly the case if the tops of the pickets are pointed. Fowls, 
in flying over a picket fence, generally aim to perch on the top 
of the pickets, as they are accustomed to do on other fences ; but, 
as pointed pickets are not very convenient for them to stand upon, 
they soon learn that it is best to fly over without touching it, 
which they seldom do, or keep on their own side of it. Filching 
marauders, in quest of good fruit, fear the points of pickets, lest 
they, by an inadvertant hold or step, should meet with their mer- 
ited deserts. 

169. In point of economy in dollars and cents, a picket fence 
may cost more than a board fence, or it may not cost as much. 
The height of each fence being the same, there will be little, if 
any, difference in the cost of the rough materials ; but the labor 
of building according to a given style will increase or diminish 
that cost, according to the amount of labor bestowed upon it. 
The style of casing and capping the posts, or not casing them; 
the style of rails and bottom boards ; and the style of the tops of 
the pickets, all affect the expense of a fence, in proportion to the 
amount of labor required in dressing out and preparing the mate- 
rials. There is often an unnecessary amount of labor expended 
in making the tops of pickets very ornamental, by cutting them 
of different forms, which only increases the expense, without 



132 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

adding at all to its beauty or efficiency. The plainer tlie work is, 
in making a picket fence, and the less cut work in the shape of 
gains and moldings there is about it, the neater it appears. 

170. The width of pickets^ and the width oi spaces between them, 
is a consideration which affects the symmetry and expense of a 
fence far more than most people are wont to suppose. Pickets 
are often made one-third or two-thirds wider than is necessary for 
strength, to say nothing for or against their beauty; and the 
spaces between them are too frequently twice or thrice as narrow 
as they might be, without detracting at all from the efficiency of 
the fence, or from its real beauty. Pickets are often four inches 
wide, and the space between them but two inches ; in which case 
a width of pickets eight inches wide is required for every foot 
in length of a fence. But if the pickets were two inches wide, 
which is sufficiently wide for ordinary fences, with two-inch spaces, 
there will be a saving of just one quarter of the lumber for the 
pickets required for a rod in length. But when pickets are a 
plump inch thick, and not more than four feet long, a fence will 
look quite as well when the pickets are an inch and a half 
wide, with spaces two and a half or three inches in width. It is 
a thing of rare occurrence, that pickets of the size last mentioned 
are ever broken by animals thrusting against them, or by attempt- 
ing to pass them in any way. When pickets are an inch and a half 
wide, and the spaces between them two and a half wide, only a 
width of four and a half inches of pickets is required for a foot in 
length of fence. Spaces two and a half inches wide are narrow 
enough to stop any kind of fowls, or pigs and lambs. 

171. Fig. 49 represents a neat, cheap, durable and substan- 
tial lawn fence, and may be three and a half to four and a half 
feet high, to suit the fancy. The top of the pickets should extend 
not less than eight inches above the top rail ; and if the fence is 
four feet or more in height, they should extend not less than ten 
inches above the rail. The rails should be about three inches 
square, in which case the posts may be twelve feet apart, and 
should be fitted to the posts as shown in the figure, so that the 
pickets may be nailed to a corner of the rails instead of the side. 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 



133 



Rails are much stronger, both laterally and verticallj, when placed 
in this position, than when they are placed with one side up. And 
besides this, the surface of conjunction between the pickets and 
rails is so small, that there is httle or no hability to decay, as is 
the case when pickets are nailed to the flat side of rails. Every 

Fig. 49. 



W^ 



'^ 



^ 



A LAWN RCKET FENCE. 



one who has had any experience in picket fence, knows that when 
pickets are nailed to the flat side of rails, water will often get 
between them and cause them to decay in that place in a few 
years. The bottom rail may be halved and let into gains in the 
posts, or attached by mortises and tenons ; and the strongest mode 
of putting up the top rail (unless by mortises and tenons) is, in 
sawing off the tops of the posts, to saw from each side of the 
posts, with cut slanting downwards, so that the top rail will fit 
the cut neatly, as shown at a in the figure. The top rails may then 
be nailed, as shown at the top of the posts. Where the rails and 
posts touch each other, they should be painted to preserve them 
from decay. 

172. The pickets may be sawed out of inch boards with a 
power circular saw, as it is difficult to saw pickets of so r-mall a 
size from logs at the saw-miU. After they are dressed out, the 
tops may be sawed off in a mitre-box with a hand saw, or with 
a small circular saw. In nailing them on the rails, let a chalk- 
line be stretched as high above the rails as the tops of the pickets 



134 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

are to extend, supporting it in the middle, if it sags a little, witli 
a picket slightly tacked to the rails. Dress out a space-board as 
wide as the spaces, and be particular to have both ends of an ex- 
act width. Drive a long nail in one side of it, near the top, so 
that it can be hung on the top rail ; now nail on the first picket, 
and plumb the edge on one side. Hang on the space-board, and 
put up another picket to the side of the space-board, with the top 
barely to the line, and hold it with one knee while nailing it. 
After two or three pickets more have been put up, apply the 
plumb-rule and see if the pickets are perpendicular. After the 
pickets are all nailed on, the bottom board, the top edge of which 
is planed bevelling, as shown in the figure, may be nailed on the 
outside of the pickets. The lower ends of the pickets need not 
be sawed off even, as they are not in sight; and the bottom 
board may be nailed to the lower rail, subserving the additional 
purpose of a batten or ribbon; or it may be two or three inches 
below the rail. A ribbon about one inch by an inch and one-fourth 
square may be nailed on the pickets into the upper rail. But if 
each picket is nailed with two sixpenny nails to each rail — four 
nails in a picket — if the rails are of hard wood, a ribbon will be of 
little utility. A half round ribbon would look better than a 
square one. Near the middle of the bottom boards a few pickets 
may extend to the bottom of the board on the inside, and be 
nailed to it to strengthen it. The bottom board may be from 
eight to ten inches wide ; or there may be two narrow boards 
four and a half or five inches wide, with a three or four-inch space 
between them, which is in quite as good keeping with a picket 
fence as one wide board. If it is desirable, the posts of such fence 
may be cased. But if the gate-posts and posts at the corners of 
the yard be cased, Hke those at Fig. 32, the fence will probably 
suit the majority of people quite as well as if every post were 
cased. 

SELF-SUSTAINING PICKET FENCE. 

173. Fig 50 represents a style of fence but little different from 
the one shown at Fig. 49. The pickets, bottom boards, rails and 



THE YOUNG FARMER S MANUAL. 



135 



ribbons, are all alike ; but instead of posts, standards are used, 
one of which is shown at Fig 51. The sills a are made of scant- 
ling, not less than three by four inches square, and thirty inches 
or more long ; and the standards, 2>, after the mortises have been 

Fig. 50. 




SELF-SCSTAIXING PICKET FFNOK. 



Fig. 51. 



made for the rails and bottom boards, are firmly united by mor- 
tise and tenon to the sills. Braces c c are then nailed on, or 
wires twisted together, as at Fig. 36. The standards may be of 
one and a half or two-inch plank, and may extend above tops 
of pickets, for holding one or two wires to prevent fowls from 
flying over it ; or they may extend no higher 
than the tops of the pickets. If preferred, 
the standards may be in two parts, like Fig. 
35, or 37. The ends of the rails are halved 
together at the standards. The longer the 
rails and bottom boards are, the less will be 
the expense for the labor of building, as they 
may be run through one or two standards 
without having a joint at each one. When 
they are made in two parts, like Fig. 35, 

, r. n , • ,^ , -,111. STANDARD FOE SELF 8US- 

mstead oi lastenmg the tops with bolts or taining picket fence. 

bands, a wooden yoke, made of two-inch plank, with a long 

mortise in it, is fitted to the standards, about half way from the 

tops of pickets to tops of standards. The ends and sides of the 

yokes are rounded a little, and give a very tasty appearance to 

the fence. The sills may be staked to the ground, or large stones 
6* 




136 



THE YOUNG FARMERS MANUAL. 



laid on them, to keep them from being moved ; or it will stand 
very firmly itself. But if fence posts of cedar, or yellow locust, 
or of some other durable timber, can be obtained for twelve or 
fifteen cents apiece, it will be the most economical, in the end, to 
build a fence like Fig. 49, with posts, instead of a self-sustaining 
fence, hke Fig. 50, unless a portable fence is desired. 

SELF-SUSTAINING PORTABLE ZIGZAG PATENT PICKET FENCE, OR 

HURDLES. 

174. Fig. 52 shows a style of picket fence which was secured by 
letters patent in 1858, and which appears to take well where it is 
introduced. The rails are about twelve feet long and two inches 

Fig. 52. 



A 



"^ 



A A 



" 



i\\ 



tp 



u 



I 



ir 



SELF-SUSTAINING POBTABLE PICKET FENCE, OE HCTEDLES. 



square, of hard timber, and the pickets are two inches wide, 
pointed or not, with spaces to suit the builders. Each picket is 
nailed on with four nails, and the ends of rails are fastened to- 
gether by pins of wood or iron, which are driven through two of 
them. The panels are all made in the shop, and care is taken to 
have the pickets nailed on at a right angle with the rails. The 
holes at the ends of the rails are bored straight through, in order 
to correspond with each other. If the pins are of iron, a rod 
three-eighths of an inch in diameter is large enough, or a three- 
quarter wooden pin. The panels are set up in a zigzag manner, 
with a worm of three or four feet, with flat stones under the cor- 
ners ; and if it does not warp and twist, and settle off sideways in a 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 



137 



few years, or if the wind does not turn it topsj-turvy, and inside 
outwards, it will stand firmly until it rots down where it was set 
up. In the event of a hurricane, stakes might be driven in the 
ground at each corner, and the fence wired to them. It is a very 
good design for hurdles. "When such a fence is made up and 
down hills, there should be a brace nailed from one rail to the 
other, to keep the panels in their proper shape. 



POULTRY YARD FENCE. 



175. Fig. 53 represents a very good style of picket fence for in- 
closing the kitchen garden or poultry yard. It may be built of 
any desirable height. It is best, usually, to have a bottom board, 

Fig. 3. 




POULTEY YABD FBWCE. 



nine or ten inches wide, close to the ground, or a little ridge of 
earth may be thrown up under it, to keep chickens and ducklings, 
and such like, within the inclosure, and to exclude skunks and 
other "varmints" from the yard during the night. There is no 
necessity whatever, of building such a fence more than six feet 
high. Our domestic fowls do not need wings any more than they 
need fins ; and if they are disposed to fly over the top of such a 
fence, let two or three inches of the end of one wing be clipped 



188 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

off, and they will soon make no effort to fly. The pickets for 
such a fence should be sawed tapering, as shown in the cut, 
about two and a half inches wide at the lower end, and not more 
than half an inch wide at the upper end ; the space board should 
be (see 172) about two inches wide at the lower end, as a space 
of two inches is narrow enough, and the upper end must be 
enough wider than the lower end to correspond with the taper of 
the pickets. The space board need not be as long as the pickets. 
The object of sawing them tapering is, to save lumber, as the 
spaces can be much wider at the top than at the bottom of the 
pickets. It is always best, when it is not inconvenient, to nail 
on the pickets on the inside of the yard, so that fowls cannot fly 
on the top rail, and then fly over, or get through between the 
pickets. 

THE FIELD, WIRE AND PICKET FENCE 

176. Is usually made of pickets turned round and pointed, 
although square ones are frequently used instead of round ones ; 
but they are not as neat, especially if the fence is to be painted, 
because the loops of wire, in straining, cut into the corners of the 
pickets much deeper than they do in round pickets. The pickets 
are cut out in a lathe in the same manner that broom handles 
and rakestales are cut out, and the ends are thrust into an instru- 
ment called a "pointer," holding cutters, which will sharpen the 
end of a picket in a second or two. They are from four to five 
feet long, and an inch or more in diameter. One inch in diameter 
is rather too small for a fence where cattle and horses run. In- 
stead of wooden rails for holding the pickets, two wires are used, 
bent into loops, like Fig. 54, which represents a wire about the 
size of No. 10 or 11, ready for the pickets. It is very important 

Fig. 54. 

£)) (d) (P) (?5) (3} . 

MANNER OF BKNDINQ THE WIEE BAILS FOB A PICKET FENCE. 

that the loops be bent with as much uniformity as possible ; be- 
cause, if both the upper and lower wires are not bent into loops 




IXSTRUMEXT FOK 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 139 

as nearly alike as they can be conveniently, the pickets will not 
all stand in a perpendicular position. I have noticed fences made 
in this manner, where the pickets in some parts of the fenco 
would lean more than the width of one space. 

177. To aid the workman in making the loops, an instrument 
like Fig. 55 is necessary, which is made of cast-iron, and screwed 
fast to a work-bench, or held in a vise. The projections a a 
should be as large in diameter as the pickets, and Fig. 55. 
just as far apart as it is desirable to have the pick- 
ets when they are worked into the fence. In 
forming the loops, have the wire in a close coil, 
and after winding it around one of the iron pins 
a a, carry it to the other pin, winding the wire bkndixg tue wniE. 
around that also. Now shp both loops off the tops of pins a a, 
and put the loop which was made last on the first pin. Again, 
slip off the loops and carry them back, making one loop every 
time they are slipped off. Great care should be exercised to 
carry the coil, in bending every loop, just so far forward, and to 
have the last loop put on the pin with the straight part of the 
wire between the loops at just such an angle with the pins; other- 
wise there will be a variation in the spaces, so that the pickets 
will lean a little in some places, and then will be perpendicular in 
some places, and then they will lean a little in other places in an 
opposite direction. An accurate workman will bend the loops 
with two pins ; but the beginner had better have three pins instead 
of two, and then there will be no liability to make variations in 
the spaces. When three pins are used, all three of the loops 
must be slipped off the ends of them every time a loop is made. 
The wire should not be wound around as a string would be, but 
the whole coil must be carried around the pin. If this is not done, 
the wire will be twisted once around at every loop, which weak- 
ens its strength. 

178. The posts for such a fence may be set as far apart as 
thought best, say from eight to twelve feet, with one side of them 
on a line with each other ; and then the wires may be laid on the 
ground, and the pickets put in the loops, with the tops all in line. 



140 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

When the ground is level, after the pickets have all been put in 
the loops, thej may all be set up, and the wires strained (see Fig. 
42) and fastened to each post, with staples driven over the wires 
into each post. Where the ground is undulating, it is a most dif- 
ficult job to adjust the wires in such a manner that the pickets, 
up and down slopes, will all stand in a perpendicular position. 
Suppose, for instance, a fence is to be made fifteen or twenty rods 
on a level, and then to rise up a slope from ten to twenty rods. 
Let the wires be fastened to the post at the bottom of the slope 
of ground, and have a set of straining-posts at the top of the 
slope, and another set at the end of that part of the fence on level 
ground ; and let the wires be strained from both ways. If either 
of the wires should seem to be looser than the other, and straining 
it more would incline the pickets from a perpendicular position, 
it would be best for a man to step on the wire which is the tightest^ 
in several places, in order to bury the wires deeper in the wood ; 
and then they can both be strained up to the desired tension. 

179. The cost of such a fence will be easily estimated, and the 
fence very quickly made. The pickets, in this region, can be 
obtained, turned and pointed, for one dollar per hundred, four 
feet long. If they are one inch and a quarter in diameter, 
which is as small as they ever ought to be, with four-inch spaces, 
it will require about thirty-seven pickets for one rod of fence. 
The cost of the wire will depend on its size ; and the cost of posts 
will depend on the locality, and the kind of posts used. Posts 
similar to Fig. 45 may be used for this style of fence, by passing 
a wire around the wire which holds the pickets, and through the 
holes in the post, and twisting it up tight. Instead of having the 
pickets four or more feet long, a ridge of earth two feet or so 
high may be cast up, and the pickets be made correspondingly 
shorter, which will lessen the cash cost, and at the same time in- 
crease the efficiency of the fence by means of the ridge of earth._ 
When such a fence is put up in k workmanlike manner, and well 
painted, it harmonizes with the taste of many individuals better 
than almost any other style of fence. 

180. Fig. 56 represents one of the most expensive kinds of 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 



141 



Fig. 56. 




OENAMENTAL BOUND PICKET FENCE. 



picket fence which can be built, but which harmonizes quite 
well with the style of archi- 
tecture of the buildings which 
it is designed to surround. 
The pickets are turned round 
and pointed, and every alter- 
nate one passes through three 
rails. The rails should be 
bored with precision, and 
with an auger or bit that 
will cut a clean, smooth hole, 
so that the pickets will fit 
water-tight. If they are 
painted, there will be no danger of their rotting in the rails on 
account of the rain getting in the joints. 

181. In making this or any other style of picket fence up a 
slope, the rails for one panel must be fastened in the position of 
inclination in which they are to be placed, when the fence is 
built, and then, with the plumb rule, make a perpendicular mark 
on the edges of the rails ; after which it will be easy to adjust 
the table on which the rails are laid when they are bored, in 
order to have the holes of the desired angle. When the fence is 
built on level ground, the holes for the pickets must be bored 
through the rails at a right angle ; but if bored at a right angle 
when the fence is not on a level, the pickets will all lean in pro- 
portion to the steepness of the slope, which would look awkward 
and very unworkmanlike. — I should not have mentioned these 
particulars, had I not seen fences which were made by inexpe- 
rienced workmen, with the pickets leaning down the slope at 
about a right angle with the surface of the ground. — A modifica- 
tion of this style of 



AN ORNAMENTAL LAWN FENCE, 

182. A fine specimen of which may be seen encircling the 
grounds of Mr. Andrus, of Ithaca, is made with turned posts 
with acorn tops, and turned pickets with acorn tops, with two 



142 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 



rails tlirougli which the pickets pass, and a bottom board from 
eight to twelve inches wide. The fence last mentioned is about 
the neatest fence which I ever have seen for a lawn fence, and as 
durable as the wood of which it is made. The acorn tops are 
turned in a lathe, with gouge and chisel, after the other part has 
been cut out straight. "When it is desired to make the posts 
ornamental by turning them — as turned posts are much cheaper 
than the casing of posts — a very efficient lathe may be fitted up 
for the purpose, without a mandrel, by having a point instead of 
a mandrel at one end of the lathe, with a screw and point at the 
other end, and allowing the band from the speed-wheel of the 
driving power to pass round the post instead of a pulley, on the 
mandrel. Or the posts might be mounted with a large wooden 
acorn, whether they were cased or not, or with any other orna- 
ment turned out of wood. But a turned post would be in better 
keeping with the pickets than a square one ; and a man who 
understands turning, would turn out three posts sooner than he 
could case one. As we cannot drive such pickets in the rails, 
they should be just large enough to fill the holes, and so that 
they can be worked in by hand, without driving them. The 
pickets should be thoroughly seasoned ; but the rails through 
which they pass may be green or half seasoned ; because, when 
they shrink, they will hold the pickets tighter than when they 
have been seasoned before boring the holes. 



AN ORNAMENTAL LATTICE FENCE 



Fig. 57. 




LATTIOB FENOB. 



183. Is shown at Fig. 57, 
which is often built between 
the gardens of adjoining own- 
ers, or on the back side of lawns 
or gardens. The rails and posts 
are put up in the same man* 
ner as for ordinary picket fence, 
with bottom board or not, as 
preferred ; and the lattice is 
made of half-inch stuff, an inch 



THE YOUNG FARMER S MANUAL. 



143 



and a half or two inches wide, put up at a right angle to each 
other, or at an angle that will make the meshes or open spaces 
of a rhomboidal form, as in the illustration. The spaces may be 
of the width of the lattice strips, or from three to four inches 
wide. The tops of them should be screwed together, instead of 
nailing them, as screws will hold much better than nails. In 
putting on the strips, they should be kept at just such an angle ; 
and the surfaces of conjunction, between the two courses of lat- 
tice, ought to be painted before the second course is nailed on. 



THE FORMS OF PICKET TOPS 

184. Are as numerous as the different styles of fence, and may 
be varied to suit the taste of the most fastidious. Many men 
like the plainest form possible for picket tops ; and others, again, 
think a fence very incomplete and tasteless without ornamental 
tops of some style. The style of architecture in which the 
buildings are finished should determine, in a measure, the style 
of picket tops for the fence which encircles them. Figs. 58, 59, 
60, represent turned pickets, and are particularly adapted to rural 
residences, with spacious dooryards, or lawns, beautifully embel- 
lished with a variety of shrubs and evergreens. The top of 
Fig. 58 is turned in the shape of an Qgg. The top of Fig. 59 is 
of any oblong conical form. Fig. 60 is of the form of an acorn. 

Figs. 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, QQ, 67, 68. 




/\ 



r\ 




FOEMS OF TOPS OF PICKETS. 



If it were desirable to have the acorns larger than the main parts 
of the pickets, they might be turned separately, and a half-inch 



144 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

hole bored in the lower ends of the acorns, and tenons made no 
the upper ends of the pickets. When this mode is adopted, the 
acorns should be put on tight with good paint. The tenons can 
be cut with a tenon auger fitted to the mandrel of a lathe, and 
the acorns bored in a lathe, so that the expense of fitting them 
up in this manner would be quite small. The ends of round 
pickets are many times cut off square, or a little rounding, or 
pointed in a conical form, like those shown at Fig. 56. Fig. 61 
represents one of the plainest styles of tops for square or flat 
pickets, with the corners sawed off. Fig. 67 is particularly 
adapted to inclosing buildings of gothic order of architecture. 
When buildings are of the very plainest order of architecture, 
Figs. 63 and 64 would correspond quite as well with the work 
on the buildings as any other style. Figs. 62 and 68 would be 
in good keeping with the architecture of a country villa, where 
the balconies and verandahs are encompassed with a balustrade 
of turned balusters. When buildings are finished with a heavy 
box cornice, with roof rather flat, and square columns with 
bevelled mouldings, instead of a bead, or ogee, or ovals. Figs. 65 
and 66 would be in good keeping with the workmanship of them. 
185. The most expeditious manner of rounding the tops like 
Fig. 63 is, to put fifty pickets or so in a gripe, with the top ends 
all even, flat sides together, and set them up by the side of a 
work-bench, letting them stand on the lower ends, and shave the 
corners nearly round with a drawing-knife, and then a few strokes 
with a joiner's hollow plane will make them all true. When all 
the corners are to be cut ofiF, like Fig. 64, a lot of them may be 
put in a gripe, or they may be cornered with a drawing-knife 
while they are held in a vise, or they may all be nailed on the 
rails of the fence, and cornered with drawing-knife and bench 
plane. Figs. 62, 65, 66, 67, and 68, are usually put in a gripe» 
with top ends even, and laid on the work-bench, and some parts 
cut with a back-saw and rabbet-plane, or a joiner's dado, or with 
planes called hollows and rounds. A joiner's dado, for such 
work, is a very useful tool. There are many other forms for 
picket tops, but these must suffice for a work of this character. 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 345 

SECTON V. STONE FENCE. 

" Let me but place one stone within the wall, 
While the stout masons, with great plumb and hne, 
Are laying the foundations broad and deep." — T. B. Rkad. 

186. Stone fence or stone wall is about the best and most 
durable and efficient fence that can be erected, when it is properly- 
built ; but some farmers, who have an abundance of stone, have 
no confidence in stone fence, because it tumbles down so fre- 
quently in places, making gaps for the ingress or egress of hogs 
or sheep. But the difficulty is almost always attributable to im- 
perfect workmanship in building. Stone walls are usually built 
by jobbers, who itinerate through the country in search of labor ; 
and who sometimes understand the business well, and will lay up 
a good wall if their employer understands Avhat coilstitutes a good 
wall, and insists on having his work done to order. Jobbers often 
will slight their jobs all they possibly can; and if they discover that 
their employer does not know when the work is well done, they 
will toss the stones together any how, and pocket their wages 
and be off. But if they have their orders how to lay up a wall, 
and these are insisted on at the time of negotiating, and the over- 
seer watches the builders, there will be little danger of stone 
walls tumbling down in consequence of having been laid up in 
an unworkmanlike manner. Jobbers will often insist that it is 
just as well to lay the foundation stones on the surface of the 
ground, as it is to lay them eight or ten inches below the surface. 
If the foundation stones were always flat on the bottom, and large 
enough to extend entirely across the bottom of the wall, it would 
be just as well to lay them directly on the surface of the ground, 
because the entire wall would settle bodily and evenly, and, if the 
frost gets under it, it will be raised evenly. But when the founda- 
tion consists of small stones, either flat ones or bowlders, they 
will not settle perpendicularly. Large bowlders, when laid on 
the surface of the ground, will seldom settle straight down ; be- 
cause, when more rain runs off of one side than the other, the 
soil in one place will become softer than it is in others, and if 



146 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

the stone rests on that point it will be very liable to slide a little 
sideways in that directioD. And when the foundation is a part 
small bowlders, and another part large flat stones, and another 
portion something else, the wall will not all settle ahke, and the 
frost will not lift it all alike ; and, by constant lifting and letting 
down, here and there, the wall will begin to spread out in places, 
and in a few years will tumble down. A wall may often have the 
appearance of being well laid up, when in reality it has been 
very imperfectly done. It requires the exercise of good skill and 
judgment to place every stone in the best position, so that it will 
not roll or rock about at the slightest touch. Almost every stone 
has one side a little broader and flatter than the other sides ; and 
the best side should be always laid down, so as to keep the stones 
from rockiDg about. If a stone has one good face side, and will 
lie more substantially with that side down, let it be laid in that 
position rather than to set it on the edge for the sake of having 
the face side outwards. It is desirable to have a straight and 
smooth face to the stones in a wall ; but when this object cannot 
be secured without detracting from the permanence of it, it is 
best to place the best sides down, even if the wall is not quite 
as even and smooth as we could desire. A wall may be just as 
strong when the stones all have a rough and uneven face, as if 
those rough and uneven corners were all knocked ofi" and a 
smooth face made on them. When jobbers lay up a wall, the 
stones of which are mostly small bowlders, if they are not 
watched closely they will lay up a row for each face, and then 
throw in small stones without any order at all, to fill up the mid- 
dle. But such a wall will stand but a few years, because the 
sides will bulge out in a short time, and it will fall flat to the 
ground. The stones of a wall should all lie flatly, and lap on 
one another clear across the wall. Such a mode of laying stone 
will keep the wall from spreading or bulging out in places. 

187. Stone walls are usually built by the perch or by the rod, 
running measure, with the foundation and top of a given width, 
and the waU of a given height. A perch of wall is sixteen and 
a half feet long, and a foot square, or sixteen and a half cubic 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 147 

feet. A rod of wall may be two feet wide or ten feet wide, and 
almost any given lieiglit, but always sixteen and a half feet 
long. When walls are laid up dry, the faces or sides should be 
laid battering, as they will stand much more permanently than 
when the sides are built perpendicularly. "When the stones are 
mostly small and round, the faces should be laid more battering than 
when nearly all flat stones are used. If the stones of which a 
fence is to be made be nearly all large and flat ones, it is quite 
as well to lay the faces perpendicularly, as battering. The most 
important idea to be kept in mind in laying up a stone wall is, 
to have all the stones laid in such a manner as to bind the wall 
together, from face to face, so tliat the faces will not separate. 
The following figures will enable the farmer to know, if he is not 
a practical stone layer, whether a wall is laid up in a workman- 
like manner, or whether it is performed in a slighty, job-cheating 
way. Fig. 69 represents a transverse section of a fence or stone 
wall which is laid so as to bind the two faces together, and which 
is done in a workmanlike manner. It will be perceived that 
there are no large holes between the stones, and that they are all 
laid flat, and not pitching this way and that way, and are laid so 
as to bind from face to face. 

Fig. 70 shows a section of the same wall, and of the same size, 

Fig. 69. Fia. 70. 





A SECTION OP WALL WELL LAID. A SECTIOX OF WALL niEROPERLY LiilD. 

and having faces equally as good as Fig. 69, but which is laid up 
very slightly, with merely a row of stones for each face, while 
tiae niilih of the wall is filled with stones thrown in promiscu- 



148 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

ously, without being placed so as to lie firmly, and without having 
the face stones chocked on the inside. It is always very impor- 
tant to have the face stones well chocked on the inside. It is of 
httle or no importance, usually, to chock stones on the face side. 
But if face stones are not well levelled up, and chocked up on the 
inside, especially in erecting a wall with a single face along a 
bank of earth, a wall is sure to bulge out and fall in a few years. 
This explains, in a great measure, why walls under a house or 
barn often bulge into the cellar and fall : the face stones were not 
well chocked on the inside ; and a small force, produced by the 
superincumbent pressure of a heavy building, or by the freezing 
and expansion of the bank against which the wall is erected, will 
thrust the walls into the cellar. When long stones are laid in a 
stone wall, and the ends or sides within the wall do not rest one 
on the other, if they are not chocked clear to the ends, (not back 
six or eight inches from the ends,) the superincumbent pressure 
of the stones which rest on the ends of these long stones will tend 
to bring the ends together, and to separate the ends at the /ace, 
thus bringing them into a position to be forced or thrust easily 
from the centre of the wall. 



MANIPULATIONS IN BUILDlNa A STONE WALL. 

188. The first thing in building a stone fence usually is, to 
haul the stone ; and they are usually thrown in a long row, ex- 
actly where the fence is to stand. This is always wrong. If 
stones are gathered from year to year, and hauled to a given place 
for the purpose of making a stone fence, the place where it is to 
stand should be staked off, and no stone should be dropped within 
four feet of the point where the face of the wall is to be, on both 
sides of it. If the wall is to be made six or eight feet wide on 
the bottom, no stone should be dropped nearer than six feet, 
especially if they are mostly large ones. It is a great fault with 
most farmers who build stone fence, to get their stones too close 
to the wall. It is but the work of a few moments to tumble a 
large stone six or eight feet ; and it is far better to have a stone 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 149 

one foot too far away than to have it a foot too close, to obstruct 
the progress of workmen. 

189. When a stone wall is to be erected directly on the surface 
of the soil, the stones may all be dropped in a long pile where the 
fence is to be built, and then the workmen can commence at one 
end and carry the stones back and lay them up ; and if they 
should not be abundant enough without carrying them too far in 
some places, they can be hauled along the side of the wall where 
they are needed. But we do not advocate the practice of erect- 
ing a stone wall on the surface of the ground, because it will not 
settle alike, unless the soil is of a uniform quality ; and as the 
frosts of winter will raise it whenever it freezes beneath the foun- 
dation stones, it is very liable to freeze in freezing weather on the 
windward side first ; and perhaps it will not freeze on the leeward 
side at all under the foundation stones. When this is the case, 
when one side of a stone wall is lifted by the frost, and the whole 
of it does not go up bodily, the stones will most of them be dis- 
placed a little. And again, supposing that it has all been lifted 
bodily and evenly, when the ground comes to thaw it is not at all 
likely to thaw evenly and settle uniformly. This will displace 
the stones a little, and a large number of such little displacements 
will soon produce bulges in the wall ; and as soon as a wall com- 
mences bulging here and there a little, it is very liable to fall in 
a few years. In order to build a wall that will stand as long as 
any man will need a fence, the soil where the fence is to stand 
should all be thrown out, to a depth which will insure safety from 
settling, or from heaving by frost. In some localities the neces- 
sary depth will be only four inches, while in other places, perhaps 
in the same field, a depth of from eight to fourteen inches will 
be necessary. The foundation stones should be well laid, and 
chocked up all round. If a large stone, for instance, has but one 
flat, or smooth side, and has more the appearance of half of a 
globe than anything else, it is best to dig a hollow in the hard 
ground which will correspond well with the round side of it, and 
place it with the smooth or flat side up. 

190. The width of the wall on the groimd must be determined 



150 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

in part by the size of the foundation stones. Should there be a 
good number of large bowlders, from four to five feet in diameter, 
it will be best to have the wall about that width. Between the 
bowlders let a row of good stones be laid for each face ; now fill 
up the middle, and level it ofi" entirely across the wall. Then if 
a large flat stone, or a number of them, can be obtained, lay them 
on the long way across the wall, and chock them well, so that a 
man may step on them without rocking or moving them. If there 
is a number of ill-shapen, rough-looking bowlders, let them be 
laid on such places as the tops of the large flat stones, and chock 
them well. Let the workmen be particular to break joints well, 
i. €., let a stone be laid directly over the joints of the two below 
it ; let long stones from each face of the wall extend inward as 
far as possible, and if a few can be obtained which will extend 
from face to face, they will render the wall doubly strong. When 
there are more large bowlders than can be laid in the foundation 
course, if two or three men cannot lift them two or three feet 
high on the wall, place a strong bench by the side of the wall, 
and lay a couple of plank, with one end on the bench and the 
other on the ground, and roll the large stones up this inclined 
plane with a cant-hook, and lay them carefully on the wall. In 
this way one man may handle stones with ease, and place them 
on the wall three or four feet from the ground, which three or 
four men could not lift directly to that place. When there is 
stone enough to build a wall, we will say three feet wide on the 
bottom, and two feet or two and a half on the top, and three feet 
high, if there should be enough bowlders about two feet in diam- 
eter to form a single row the entire length of the fence, they 
should be left till the wall is finished, from three to four feet high, 
as the case may be, and then these bowlders should be laid care- 
fully on the top of the wall, close together, and chocked up well all 
around. Such bowlders will be more efficient in building a fence 
when placed in such a part of the wall, than they would be if they 
were placed near the bottom ; but they should be assorted, and 
those of a given size should be placed together. If we would 
make a fence five feet high, for example, it may be made three 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 151 

feet high as far as the bowlders, which are two feet in diameter, 
will extend ; and then, if a lot of bowlders are but twenty inches 
in diameter, let the wall be laid a few inches higher, so that the 
tops of all the bowlders will be of a given height. It is a very 
great help, in putting on these cope stones, to lay two strips of 
boards, about three inches wide, and the longer the better, on the 
top of the wall, with their edges even with the faces of the wall, 
and then lay on the cope stones, letting them rest on these strips 
of boards. A board or plank as wide as the top of the wall is 
often laid on the top for the cope stones to rest on; but two strips 
of boards, I think, are preferable, because they are cheaper, and 
they d6 not require so much chocking on the sides, and any cor- 
ners or points of the stones will set down between these strips much 
better than they would rest on a wide plank. 

What has been penned in the preceding paragraphs has partic- 
ular reference to walls which are made of all kinds of stone. We 
shall now notice the best mode of building 



COBBLE-STONE FENCE. 

191. When stone fences are made of small stones only, where 
there are no flat stones to bind the wall together, small strips of 
wood, called hinders, about an inch wide and one-fourth of an 
inch thick, which are usually split out of cedar or some other 
durable wood, are laid between all the courses of stone as thickly 
as thought proper ; but one binder extending entirely across the 
wall to every six or twelve inches will be sufficient. If the 
stones are all quite small, it would be well to use more binders 
than if the stones were larger. The stones will settle a little into 
these wooden binders, and keep the sides from bulging out and 
faUing down. The binders should not extend beyond the face of 
the wall far enough to allow cattle to move them ; they should 
be cut of different lengths, when the wall batters on both faces, 
so as to be just as long as the wall is wide, as the wall increases 
in height. When any of the binders extend beyond the face of 
the wall, the ends should be sawed off even with the stones. 
7 



162 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

This mode of building refers more particularly to walls about 
thirty inches wide on the bottom, and a foot wide at the top, and 
from three to four feet high. This kind of wall is sometimes cov- 
ered with a row of square stones, sometimes one foot square; and 
sometimes stones from two to six feet long, and from four to ten 
inches thick, and as wide, or even a few inches wider, than the 
top of the wall, are placed carefully on the top. Sometimes a 
stick of timber is placed on the top of the wall, and the top of it 
dressed in the shape of a roof of a building, and cased and painted. 
Sometimes, again, when such a wall is from three to four feet 
high, the top is levelled off, and a board of some durable timber 
is placed on the top, and stones of a given size, which were 
reserved when the workmen were carrying up the wall, are placed 
on the top close together, and chocked up well on both sides. It 
will require the exercise of a little skill to place these cope stones 
in the most firm and permanent manner. A large stone should 
be placed at the end to keep them from moving readily, and the 
others should be placed in the best possible manner for laying 
firmly and wedging the entire length of the wall. Sometimes 
such walls are finished with two or three rails in height, or, what 
is much better, long poles staked and ridered. 

192. Throwing a bank of earth against each side of a wall 
about two feet high, and sowing grass seed on it, is highly recom- 
mended by some, and equally denounced by others. When a 
wall is resting on a good foundation, below the influence of frost, 
there can be no advantage in banking up the sides of a wall, ex- 
cepting this : it prevents stock from approaching as closely to it 
as they could do if it were not banked up, and consequently they 
are thus deprived of the advantage they would otherwise have, to 
rub, and hook, and displace any of the stones. Many farmers 
contend, and with very plausible reasoning, too, that when a wall 
is banked up the dirt finds its way between the stones, filling all 
the spaces so completely that a frost affects a wall just as much, 
and sometimes even more, than it would if it were built on the 
surface of the soil. If a wall is properly laid up, a bank of earth 
on each side will not make it stand any longer than if it were not 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 163 

there. The farmer can do as his own judgment may dictate in 
reference to banking up the sides. 

193. Another thing of no httle importance in building stone 
fence is, to lay all the stones as nearly level as may be practica- 
ble. In making a wall up or down a slope, the workmen should 
always work up hill, laying the stones level, instead of laying 
them parallel with the surface of the ground. When stones are 
laid sloping in a wall, they are moved much more easily than 
when they are laid in a level position ; consequently, a wall built 
in such a manner would not be as strong as it would be were the 
same stones laid level. 

194. Whenever a wall is built along the hillside, and the dirt 
is hauled down against it, the face of the wall should be more 
battering than are the faces of a double-faced stone wall. It is a 
very great error to lay up a wall in such places with the face 
perpendicular ; because the earth will freeze and expand behind 
the wall, and, unless it is several feet in thickness, it will thrust 
it over in a very few years. Stone walls that are erected along 
the sides of abutments should always be laid battering, lest the 
sides bulge out in a few seasons, and they fall. The face of such 
a wall should be laid battering not less than one foot- in three. 
For example, if a wall be three feet high, it should be laid bat- 
tering one foot ; and if six feet high, two feet battering. And 
there is another very important consideration in laying up such a 
wall, which is almost always entirely overlooked, or not even 
thought of, which is this : the stones, especially the flat ones, 
instead of being laid level, as in other kinds of wall, should be 
laid pitching inward towards the bank or hill above, with their 
surfaces at a 7'ight angle to the face of the wall. When a wall is 
laid up in this manner, if the frost should ever thrust it over any, 
it would settle back again to its original position as soon as the 
earth behind became all thawed out. When a wall is built along 
a side-hill, as has been mentioned, it should never be less than 
two feet thick clear to the top. It should be as thick, and even 
thicker, at the top than at the bottom. The wider it is, the less 
liable it is to be thrust over by the frosts of winter. In localities 



164 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

where there is an excess of water in the soil, arising from springs, 
a good ditch should be made, and well tiled or stoned two or 
three feet above the foundation of the fence, in order to receive 
the water before it should saturate the earth under the founda- 
tion of the wall. This precaution will keep the dirt about the 
wall more dry, and consequently less liable to heave by freezing. 

DITCHES UNDER STONE WALLS. 

195. It is a very common practice with some farmers to throw 
out the earth, where a stone fence is to be built, to the depth of 
thirty or forty inches, and from two to four or five feet wide, or 
as wide as the wall is to be built at the surface of the ground, 
and then fill this channel with small stones, thrown in promis- 
cuously. In this operation they have two or three objects in 
view — draining the soil, preparing a good foundation for the 
fence, and a place for the surplus stone. But this is a very ex- 
pensive way of disposing of surplus stone of any kind. It would 
be far more economical to lay them up even on the top of a wall 
that is already high enough, than to bury them beneath the soil. 
We do not approve of nor advocate the practice of forming a 
channel for water beneath a stone wall, by simply allowing the 
water to percolate between the stones, because dirt will keep 
working towards the bottom, and mice will haul in dirt in places, 
so as to stop the passage of water entirely. TVhen it is desirable 
to have a passage for water under a stone fence, the earth should 
be thrown out from one to four feet deep, to suit the judgment of 
the proprietor ; and then a channel should be dug in the bottom 
of this trench from six to twelve inches deep, and a good throat 
laid, as in an ordinary ditch, and well chinked with small stone, 
and then filled with the kind of earth that was taken from it, 
and well trodden down even with the bottom of the large trench. 
If there should be much water, it would be necessary to make a 
large throat ; but, whether a large or small throat be made, 
the workman should exercise unusual care to do every part of 
the work in such a manner that mice cannot possibly find thoir 
way into the throat of the ditch. If the ditch be well chinked 



THE YOUNG FAKMER's MANUAL. 155 

with small stones, and then about six inches of hard earth be well 
trodden down on these stones, mice will never try to burrow in it, 
and the water will have a free channel as long as water runs. 
A row of tile laid beneath a stone fence would be the most 
complete manner of making a permanent channel for water ; but 
where stone is abundant, economy dictates that they should be 
used for this purpose. "When stone walls are built up and down 
a steep slope, with a stone drain beneath them where there will 
be much water, flat stones should be laid in the bottom of the 
ditch to prevent the water from gullying the bottom of the 
ditch, and thus undermining the wall. Where there is much 
flood-water, make a deep furrow on each side of the wall in the 
former part of summer, and seed it, so that a stream of water 
will not wash it away. (See Manner of Stoning Ditches, Par. 
422.) 

DITCHES ON BOTH SIDES OF A WALL. 

196. Many farmers seem to prefer to have a deep ditch usually 
open on both sides of their stone walls, to having a ditch directly 
heneath the wall, as has been recommended. The method pur- 
sued in such cases is, after the wall is finished, to cut a large 
open ditch on both sides of the wall, say three or four feet wide 
on the top, according to the depth of it, and about one foot on 
the bottom, leaving sufficient space between the ditch and the 
wall to receive all the dirt, so that when the ditch is finished the 
embankment on each side of the wall will correspond with the 
slope of the sides of the ditch. The sides are then sown with 
grass seed. 

197. Although this style of stone fence is very common and 
much admired, it is decidedly objectionable on account of the 
expense incurred in cutting two such large ditches, and also the 
amount of land occupied. If the two ditches are made three 
feet wide on the top, and the spaces from them to the wall be 
four feet on each side, and the wall three or four feet wide on the 
bottom, and as we cannot plow nearer than about two feet to a 
ditch, it will be perceived that the space occupied by such a fence 
will be about twenty feet wide, or more, when less than half that 



156 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

space, with a ditcli beneath the wall, would be much cheaper 
and subserve a better purpose. 

HALF WALL 

198. In localities where stone is not very abundant, and where 
there is some fencing timber, a very good, economical, and dura- 
ble fence can be made by laying a stone waU two or three feet 
high, according to the amount of stone at hand, and then by 
staking and finishing with two or more rails, as may be necessary 
to make it of sufficient height to turn stock. Some farmers finish 
their stone fence by laying on the top of the wall long poles, 
say twenty or thirty feet in length, and then staking it, and after- 
wards laying on heavy poles for riders. 

199. Another mode of building half wall fence is, to set the 
posts as for a whole board fence, and then lay up the wall about 
half as high as the fence is to be made, and then nail on the two 
top boards. If the boards should be nailed on before the stone 
are laid up, they will be very much in the way of the workmen. 

200. Another manner of finishing a half wall fence is, to set 
the posts, and, after the wall is laid up, fasten rails to the posts 
with wires, as shown by Fig. 22, paragraph 94, skeleton fence. 
"When this mode is adopted, rails may be used, or poles twenty 
feet long, instead of rails. 

A CHEAP WALL OF QUARRIED STONE. 

201. "Whenever stone are quarried expressly for a fence, and 
they can be taken from the quarry from one to two feet wide, and 
from two to eight or ten feet in length, a small amount of stone 
may be made to build a long line of fence, in the following man- 
ner, which will stand firmly as long as one man will need the 
advantages of a good fence, and subserve as good purpose as 
those walls in which there are three or four times the amount of 
stone. 

202. If the soil where the wall is to be built is at all incHned 
to be a little wet, let a ditch be made as directed (paragraph 
195), and then throw up a ridge of earth over the ditch not lesg 



THE YOUNG FAEMER'S MANUAL. 157 

than two feet high, and three feet wide on the top of it, and six 
feet or more at the bottom. Let it all be smoothed off level, and 
grass seed sowed on it. Allow it to settle for one year or more 
and then lay the stone wall directly on the top of this ridge. 

203. The object of the ridge of earth is, to save stone; and the 
object of seeding with grass seed is, to prevent the rain from wash- 
ing it down ; and the object of letting it settle one year or more 
before the wall is laid on it is, to have the earth the entire leng-th 
of the ridge of a uniform density, so that the whole wall will set- 
tle uniformly. Other advantages of such a wall will be readily 
.perceived without mentioning them. 

» HON. A. B. conger's STONE WALLS. 

Hon. A. B. Conger, President of the N. Y. State Agricultural 
Society, has forwarded me his mode of building stone walls, which 
has been very successfully adopted by many other farmers in va- 
rious parts of the State. 

" I cast up a ridge with plows and shovels al Dut eighteen 
inches high, one foot or more wider on the top than the bottom 
of the wall is to be made. This is done at any time before frost, 
as opportunity offers. The bottom stone are then hauled on, 
even in the winter, and placed in a line, without the usual fiUing 
in with small stones, so as to have the benefit of being thoroughly 
bedded in by the following spring, when they can be readjusted, 
if necessary, to the line, and filled in ; and the " seconds " — stones 
of a smaller size than the bottom ones — are placed upon them, 
and the wall raised to three and a half feet high, without levelling. 
After the foundation has been laid, the wall may be left to un- 
dergo another settling by the next winter frosts, and early in the 
succeeding spring can be topped off and finished. In all cases 
thorough draining of the ground where the wall is built is very 
necessary for the security of the wall, otherwise water will be 
absorbed and remain late in the season under the bed of the wall, 
and so tend to its upheaval, 

"It may be added, that the strength of the wall and its durabil- 
ity will be materially assisted by the care of the builder in chink- 



158 ' THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

ing in all the interstices between the large stones, and especially 
bj a careful binding of the sides together, as only in this way 
can displacement be prevented under the action of our severe 
winters. In passing across gullies, or over undulating fields, it 
may be well, in order to give the wall when finished a more uni- 
form top-Hne, to lay a lower wall of the rougher stone of a height 
to correspond with that of the ridge on which they are placed. 
The width and height of a wall will necessarily vary with the 
quahty, size and character of the stone. If large bowlders exist 
in abundance, they must be blasted when they are larger in diam- 
eter than the base of the wall. It will be sufficient to build the 
wall four feet wide at the bottom, four feet eight inches high, and 
twenty inches wide at the top. If the stone are of a smaller size, 
and cobbles mostly, or of slate, the width at the bottom may be 
two and a half feet only. 

"It is understood that a wall is considered of a lawful height if 
it is four feet six inches high. But I have thought best to con- 
struct my walls four feet eight inches high, so as to allow for 
settling." 

Some farmers cut an open ditch on both sides of the wall, and 
throw up the dirt on the top of the ridge against each side of the 
wall, so that animals cannot approach the wall. But such ditches 
take up too much land, and increase the expense of a fence to an 
unnecessary amount. (See par. 196 and 197.) 

QUAERYING STONE. 

204. The first step in taking stone of any kind from a quarry 
is, to remove the dirt from a large surface. Sometimes this may 
be done with a team and scraper; and sometimes, when a stream 
of water is near, it may be turned out of its natural course and 
made to wash the dirt away ; and sometimes it must be removed 
with shovels. When the surface of the stone is all laid bare, if 
the stone is found with regular, vertical, and horizontal seams, at 
the distance of a foot or so, it will be very easy to get them out. 
It requires the exercise of a little judgment and skill to quarry 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 159 

stone, or the operator will make bad work by damaging many 
good blocks of stone, that might, by a skillful workman, be taken 
out of the quarry of a very desirable size and form. Stone are 
not very elastic, and the operator should bear in mind that he 
cannot drive in wedges in the seams of stone as carelessly as he 
may in a block of wood. Stone will break before they will ren- 
der, or give but little ; therefore it will not answer to drive in 
wedges all in one place. 

205. A workman in a quarry needs a half score of wedges 
many times. They should be about four or five inches long, one 
inch and a half wide, and about three-eighths of an inch thick, 
of the very best iron, and steel-pointed. These should be driven 
in the •seams not more than one foot apart, and all driven at ono 
time, by striking them alternately one or two blows at a time. 
This will open a seam uniformly, without danger of brealdng a 
stone. But if a wedge be driven in at a corner, for example, 
unless the stratum is very thick the corner will be very liable to 
break oflf. Where the courses are laid bare, having vertical 
seams from two to four or five feet apart, and the strata from four 
to twelve inches thick, the surface should be marked off in a 
square form, of the size of which it is desirable to have the stone, 
and then a row of holes may be drilled eight or ten inches apart 
where the stone is to be broken, and iron wedges driven into 
these holes until the stone separates. Two pieces of half round 
iron should be placed in each hole, leaving a space in the middle 
of each hole for a flat wedge to enter between the two pieces of 
half round iron. When the strata are not very thick, and the 
stone are such as may be broken with fire, the strata may be 
broken hy fire instead of drilling holes and separating with wedges. 
It is usually best to drive most of the wedges at the end in lifting 
a stratum of rather thin stone, although some wedges may be 
driven on the side ; but if the wedges should be driven mostly 
on one side, a stone will seldom break square across the stratum. 
When the strata are rather thin, by cutting a groove with a cold 
chisel about an inch deep where it is desirable to break the stra- 
tum, if the wedges be driven in the side opposite the groove, 
7* 



160 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 



the stratum will break very true where the groove has been 
cut. 

TOOLS FOB HANDLING STONE. 

206. In addition to a good crowbar or two, and hand-spikes, 

a good canthook, represented by Fig. 71, is a very useful and 

n convenient implement for handling bowlders 

-^ which two or three men could not handle 

^ ^g--;^^ with crowbars without much difficulty. But 

with a good canthook one man can roll along 

a bowlder of six or eight hundred pounds 

with ease, and by using a couple of plank he 

I will be able to load such a stone on a sleigh 

w 

jjj I I or stone-boat in a very few mmutes. 

^ I < 207. The handle of the canthook is al- 

most always made too large and clumsy. It 
should be about six feet in length, and of a 
uniform taper from the mortise where the 
hook enters it to the end, which end need 
not be larger than the end of a fork handle. 
The other end may be tapered off, as shown in the cut. At the 
mortise it should be about two by three inches square, or even 
smaller if the timber be of the best quality, otherwise it must be 
larger. The hook should be made of the best iron, about an inch 
and a half wide and three eighths of an inch thick, with half-inch 
holes every two inches, and from twenty to thirty inches long, 
according to the size of stone or logs to be rolled with it. At 
the hook end it must be made much heavier and stronger than 
the other part of it. The curvature of the hook is a very im- 
portant feature of it. If it is curved but httle it will hook on a large 
stone or log very readily, and will not hook on a small one. But 
if the curvature of it will admit of its hooking to a small stone, it 
will usually hook on a larger one, except it is very large. The 
bolt which holds the hook should work easily in and out, and be 
fastened with a leather key. 

208. The grapple hook, Fig. 72, is used for hooking on to 
large stone with a team, in rolling them over and over, or in lift- 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 



161 



ing one end of a stone, so that a chain can be passed around it, 
when one end of it is in the ground. It is very convenient in a 
quarry, for hitching a team to a corner of a large stone, when it 

Fia. 72. Fig. V3. 




A GK^PLE HOOK HlTCilKIi To A LARGE 
BOWLDER. 



A WINDLASS FOR LOADING STOXE 0.\ A 
WAGON. 



is desirable to slide it a httle. With three or four such hooks, a 
stone may be slung up, when it would be very inconvenient get- 
ting a chain round it. 

209. The grapple hook should be made of about the same 
curvature as the iron part of the canthook. Fig. 71, with a link 
and ring in one end, as shown in Fig. 72, for the purpose of 
hitching a chain to when in use. It should be made from eight- 
een to twenty-four inches long, of the best iron, with the point of 
the hook laid with steel. The hook should be large enough to 
retain its shape without bending, even when two teams may be 
hitched to it. At the hook- end, where it is exposed to the great- 
est strain, it should be about three-fourths of an inch thick and 
two inches wide. The other parts need not be half as heavy 
as this. 

210. Fig. 73 shows a portion of a platform to a wagon or 
sleigh, with a windlass attached to the hind end, for the pur- 
pose of loading stone which Avould weigh from one hundred 
to three or four hundred pounds. One man can roll a stone, 
which three or four men cannot lift, on the wagqn ; and by 
having a windlass on the hind end of the wagon, one ma^ 
can raise a large stone on the wagon in one minute, with 
ease. In loading a stone, the fore end of the platform should 



162 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 



be fastened down, so that it cannot tip up without raising the 
forward wheels of the wagon. Hitch the chain around the 
stone, and raise it as high as the top of the platform, and then 
let a board be slid under the stone, with the two ends resting 
on the sills of the platform. The stone can then be rolled 
forward on the platform, and another raised in the same manner. 

211. The windlass should be about three inches in diameter, 
of good timber, and about thirty inches above the sills of the 
platform. The sticks for turning the windlass should be at 
least four feet in length, and if the timber be very tough, 
one inch in diameter is large enough for ordinary purposes. 
The ends of the sills should extend beyond the cross-piece 
about eighteen inches, as shown by the figure. A small chain 
is best, although a rope would subserve a good purpose, for 
winding up on the windlass. 

212. For loading stone on a wagon, which will weigh from 
four hundred pounds to a ton or more, a set of sheers and 
tackles, Fig. 74, is about as convenient and efficient as anything 

Fig. 74. 




GIN FOR LOADING LOGS AND STONE. 



in the line of cheap implements which can be made use of 
Almost every farmer often sees the need of such an apparatus 
for many purposes besides loading stone. It hardly needs a 
description ; but, to aid the beginner, we will give the cliief 



THE YOUNG FARMEK'S MANUAL. 163 

dimensions. The sheers should be not less than sixteen feet in 
length, of light timber, and should be larger in the middle of the 
sticks than at the ends, to keep them from bending. The single 
sheer, or the one to which a windlass is attached, for winding up 
the slack rope, should be, in the middle, of a size equivalent to a 
scantling three by four inches square. The other two sheers may 
be two and a half by three inches in the middle, and tapering to 
each end to two inches square, in order to render them as light 
as possible. At the upper end of the single sheer an iron rod, 
about seven-eighths of an inch in diameter, and twenty inches 
long, should be fastened, by passing through it, for holding the 
other two sheers, which should have an inch and a quarter hole 
in their upper ends for receiving the ends of this rod in the sin- 
gle sheer. The tackles may be made by almost any mechanic, 
with cast-iron sheaves. A rope an inch in diameter is large 
enough to hold one ton and a half, when the rope is three- 
double, or three sheaves in the upper block of pulleys. 

213. Such an apparatus is very convenient in hoisting large 
stone on to any part of a stone wall, and especially in placing 
large stone on the top of a wall. It may be used also very ad- 
vantageously in loading logs and timber, and such like, on a 
wagon. In extensive quarries a crane will be found to be more 
efiicient and convenient than almost any other apparatus, for 
hoisting the stone from their bed on a wagon or other vehicle. 
As cranes may be seen in every locality where stone quarries 
abound, we do not think it advisable to give, in this place, a cut 
and description of one. When the farmer has a quarry of any kind 
of stone, if he has not in his employ a man who has a good share 
of practical experience in quarrying stone, he will find it very 
much to his interest and convenience to visit some extensive 
quarry, and spend a day or so in witnessing the manipulations of 
the workmen, and in making inquiries of the foreman and pro- 
prietor in relation to the business, and in examining the tools 
used in quarrying. A day or two spent in this manner may be 
worth hundreds of dollars to an individual, in enabling him to 
start in his operations in the most efficient manner. Scores of 



164 THE YOUKG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

men have been in the possession of excellent quarries, but who, 
for the want of getting started right in the quarry, and not know- 
ing exactly what they really needed, have blundered along at a 
very great useless expense and inconvenience for a long time, or 
many times have entirely abandoned the operation as a non-pay- 
ing business, when a day or two spent in examining the machin- 
ery, &c., of an extensive quarry would have enabled them to 
start rightj and progress with all desirable rapidity and efficiency. 



BREAKING STONE WITH FIRE. 

214. Many kinds of stone may be broken very readily and 
very expeditiously with fire. Large bowlders, when a fire is 
built on them, will, in a short time, separate into small pieces ; 
and many times these pieces will have straight edges and smooth 
and true faces, and may be used in a foundation for a building, or 
in stone fence, with no little economy. When a large bowlder 
is mostly helow the surface of the ground, let the earth be thrown 
away from it all around as low as the middle of it, and then pile 
on a lot of old rails or pieces of stumps, or even good wood, and 
it will soon crack into pieces so that they may be pried out with 
the crowbar. Should it not be broken clear to the bottom, apply 
the fire again after the broken pieces have been removed. Some- 
times, after the fire has been burning for a few minutes, the top 
of the bowlder will be covered with large scales of stone, which 
should be immediately removed, in order to allow the fire to come 
in contact with the unbroken stone. Some kinds of stone that 
are taken from the quarry may be broken very straight and true 
into almost any desired shape. In many quarries stone are often 
taken out ten or twenty feet in length, and from six to ten or 
twelve inches in thickness, and sometimes from one foot to three 
feet in width, with straight edges and true and smooth sides. 
Now, in order to break them in pieces of a desirable size, let lit- 
tle fires be made with hard, dry wood, across the stone where it 
is desirable to break it, and in a few minutes a seam will be 



THE YOUNG farmer's MANUAL. 165 

formed so that a crowbar will easily separate them. "We have 
often broken large flat stone, very true and straight, with fire, by 
laying a scanthng about four inches wide on the place where it is 
to be broken, and then shovelling dirt on both sides of the scant- 
ling, about an inch in depth. Take up the scantling, and make a 
fire with short pieces of dry wood, split very fine, the whole length 
of the stone where it is to be broken. Small hard wood chips 
are the most convenient article to make a fire with in such a place. 
The dirt is to prevent the fire from heating the stone on each side 
of the line where it is desirable to have it broken. If the 
fire burns uniformly entirely across the stone, it will require but 
ten or fifteen minutes before it will crack, when the fire should 
be inimediately removed lest it should injure the edges of the 
stone. Small thin stone may be broken very readily by heating 
a large bar of iron and laying it on the stone where it is to be 
broken. 

215. Some kinds of stone will not break at all with fire, and 
some kinds will crumble to pieces before they will break in two 
parts. The beginner can soon learn, by a little observation and 
experience, which kinds may or may not be broken with fire. 



SECTION 6. — FENCE POSTS. 

216. There are several considerations of first importance in 
making fence posts, which should not be overlooked. One is the 
length of posts. Posts are cut, many times, nearly one foot longer 
than is necessary. If all the logs of a tree be cut one foot longer 
than necessary, there will be waste of timber enough in one 
tree, many times, to make a cut for posts. The farmer should cal- 
culate how deep he intends to set the posts, and how long they 
are to be above ground, and then cut them but three or four 
inches longer than that length. 

217. Another thing is the size of posts. "When timber is 
good and well-seasoned, a large post will always outlast a small 
one ; therefore, it is not a bad fault, so far as durability is 



166 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

concerned, to have posts large ; but, on tlie score of economy, 
it is not best to have them very large. It is much better to 
have them too large than too small. A post six inches square 
is much better, and will last longer, than one four inches square ; 
but it would not be an economical manner of working up tim- 
ber to make ordinary posts six inches square. For ordinary 
fence, sawed fence posts may be about four inches square at 
the lower ends, and two by four inches at the upper ends ; 
but some prefer to have them sawed five by five at the lower 
ends, and five by two or three inches at the tops. For a high 
fence, like Fig. 39, this last size would be better than a size 
smaller. In splitting fence posts, when a portion of a log is 
rather large for two jDosts, and too small for three posts, it is 
much better to make them a little too large than too small. 
It is much more economical to have posts sawed out than to 
split and hew them, when a saw-mill is not more than two or 
three miles distant, providing the timber is large. It is not 
practicable to split as many posts out of a log, even when it 
splits well, as can be sawed from the same amount of timber. 
By sawing the lower ends large, and the upper ends proportion- 
ally smaller, there is always a saving of timber, and the posts are 
of a much better form. If timber is very small, and will split 
good, it might be best to spht them out, instead of sawing them. 
Sometimes, when small timber is winding, four posts, worth fifty 
cents or more, might be sawed out of a small log which could not 
be split into posts, and which, if not sawed, would make only one 
post. 

218. Another thing, which seems almost superfluous to men- 
tion, is, the kind of timber for posts. Red cedar and mulberry 
are, perhaps, more durable than almost any other kinds of timber ; 
yellow locust, oak of different kinds, butternut, red elm, red beech, 
and many other kinds not mentioned, will make good posts. The 
butt-ends of trees, when the trees are sound and healthy, are 
usually more durable than cuts near the tops of the trees. It is 
always very poor economy to make fence posts, and especially 
gate posts, of perishable kinds of timber, such as sugar-maple, or 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 167 

bass-wood, and such like. All kinds of posts should be seasoned 
at least one year before they are set in the ground. 

219. Hewing posts. — When posts have been split out, the most 
convenient mode of scoring and hewing them is, to lay the post 
to be hewed on two large blocks or logs, and then drive in two 
stakes or pins, about six or seven inches apart, in one log, and 
let them extend beyond the surface of the log eight or ten inches, 
and key the post with a wedge in the desired position between 
these two stakes ; then line it and hew it. Some men prefer hew- 
ing their posts after they have been set in the ground, but the 
practice is not a good one, because it loosens them. 

220. Shar]pening posts. — "When the ends of posts are to be 
sharpened, if they are so large that a man cannot hold them 
erect with one hand, with the post standing on a firm block, 
while he sharpens it with an axe in the other hand, they may be 
fastened with a wedge in a gain cut in a heavy log, in a device 
similar to the one for holding posts when they are to be hewed, 
as shown by Fig. 75. It requires the exercise of a little skill to 

Fig. 75. 




FLUCUSCH 

A POST CLAMP FOE HOLDING WHILE 8HARPE>TNG. 

sharpen a post in a proper m9,nner for driving well. The bevel 
or slant should be of exactly a given angle on each side of the 
post. The following figm'es will give some correct idea on the 
subject : Fig, 76 represents a post sharpened in the most proper 
manner. A post sharpened thus, when it is being driven, will 
go straight down, if the point does not hit a stone. Figs. 77 
and 78 represent two posts improperly sharpened. Although 
they may go straight down, when sharpened like Fig. 78, they 



168 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 




MODE OF 8HAEPENING FENCE POSTS. 



will drive very hard, because they are too blunt When they 

Figs. 79, 76, 77, 78, are sharpened like Fig. 77, it is 

^ almost impossible to keep them, 

when driving them, in a perpen- 
dicular position. Sometimes, when 
Jill posts are not entirely straight, the 
sharpening must all be done on 
two or three sides of it only, as 
the case may require. Fig. 79 
will furnish a very good idea of 
the most proper manner of sharp- 
ening a crooked post, in order to 
have it drive true. The dotted 
lines will show on which side the 
post should be sharpened. The idea to be kept in mind in sharpen- 
ing a crooked post is, to work by a line drawn from the centre of 
the top of the post. Fig. 79, at a to 5, and then bevel the end on 
both sides of this line, so that the angle of the bevelling will be 
nearly the same on both sides of the line a h. It will be per- 
ceived by the figure that the sharpening is almost all done on 
one side, at h ; but a thin chip only was taken from the other side. 
A workman who has a mechanical eye, will sharpen posts with 
all desirable accuracy without a line. He will cast his eye from 
end to end of a crooked post, and at a glance observe about how 
much must be cut off on each side, in order to make it of a true 
taper, and then will snatch up his axe and cut it off while an- 
other man would be getting ready to sharpen it. In sharpening 
straight posts, a workman must calculate to have the point at the 
centre of the post, and to have the cut on each side of the post 
of a true taper, from fifteen or twenty inches from the end, 
according to the size of the post, to the point, like Fig. 76. If 
these rules, which may seem trivial to some, are observed, the 
beginner will soon be able to sharpen his posts with necessary accu- 
racy. If the ends of posts are of a true taper from the points to 
that part which is at the surface of the ground, they will enter 
the ground much easier ; but they will not stand as well as 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 



169 



those which have a short taper. Pomted posts are far more 
Hable to be Hfted out by the frost than those which are of full 
size clear to the end, and we would not recommend the practice 
of pointing fence posts ; but as farmers will persist in doing it, 
we have thought proper to give some practical hints on the sub- 
ject, to aid the inexperienced workmen in doing the job in a 
workmanlike manner. Let the farmer avoid sharpening posts 
like Fig. 77. 



Jenkins' patent cast-iron post. 

221. Fig. 80 represents a cast-iron fence post for board fence ; 
but the pattern for it may be made shorter, with holes in it for 
receiving the ends of the rails for picket fence. The entire 
length of this kind of post is six feet. The breadth is three and 
a half inches. The length below the flange or cross-pieces is 
eighteen inches, tapering and terminating as shown Yid. 80. 
in the figure, in a barbed or spear-head end. The ^ 
flange is two inches wide, eighteen inches long, 
with a mortise in the middle of it, through which 
the post is inserted, — the flange being put over the 
top of the post, and resting on little shoulders or 
projections, eighteen inches from the lower end. 
The main part of the post, through which the mor- 
tises are made, is one-fourth of an inch thick, with 
a flange around the margin, from half an inch to 
three-fourths of an inch wide, to give strength to 
the posts. The mortises for the boards are two 
inches wide, and of any desirable length. 

222. The object of the flange or cross-piece is, 
to aid in keeping the fence erect, and to prevent 
the frost heaving it. Holes are made with a crow- 
bar for the posts, when a piece of hard wood plank 
is thrust through the lower mortise, and the posts 
are driven in by striking on the edge of the plank. 
Afterwards the cross-piece is put on ; and a ridge of 
earth is thrown up along the fence to save one board, and to cover 




JEXKTNS' CAST-I 
FENCE POST. 



170 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 



the cross-pieces, and thus keep the posts in their places. The posts 
should receive a good coating of pitch and gas tar, applied hot, 
which will keep them from rusting. If this is not done, in some 




SECTION OF BOARD FENCE WTTH CAST-IRON POSTS. 

soils such posts would corrode or rust so rapidly, that in less than 
twenty years the wind would blow them over. But by smear- 
ing them they will last for ages. 

223. The weight of a post will be according to the pattern 
and style of fence. For ordinary board fence, if they weigh 
from twelve to fifteen pounds they will be sufficiently strong. 
If a goodly number were ordered, they could probably be ob- 
tained for about three cents per pound in most of our cities. One 
such post is worth two posts of the most durable kinds of 
timber. 

224. In making a board fence with such posts, stretch two 
Hues, one a few inches above the surface of the ground, and the 
other near the tops of the posts ; and drive every post so that 
the top mortise will exactly coincide with the line. Now, put in 
the boards, and smear the ends, where they come in contact with 
each other, with paint or coal tar. No nails are required in 
building such a fence ; no post holes are to be dug ; and the 
posts may be set twelve feet or more apart, and the ends of the 
boards driven into the mortises. If the boards are not very 
stiff, nail a narrow strip across all of them at the middle of each 
panel. A fence built with such posts in a workmanlike manner, 
is worth all the portable board fences in America. Alex. S. 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 



171 



Rowley, Hudson, N. Y., holds tlie right for these posts, who will 
sell farm or State rights for them. 



REMEDY TO PREVENT POSTS BEING LIFTED BY THE FROST. 



225. When posts having a straight end of uniform size are 
set in the ground, unless they are set three or four feet deep in 
the ground, they are very liable to be lifted out of the ground in 
a few years by the influence of the frost. In dry localities, how- 
ever, the freezing and thawing of the ground has little or no 
effect on them. Setting very deep in the ground is the usual 
remedy against their heaving out in the winter, but a more con- 
venient and cheaper one is to bore a two-inch hole through the bot 
torn of each post, and drive in a hard wood pin, allowing it to 
extend beyond the surface of the post about four inches, and then 
in setting the posts place a stone on each end of the pin, and let 
Fig, 81. the dirt be well rammed down on the stones. 
Another and better remedy is, to cut a notch on 
each side of the bottom of the post, about four 
inches from the lower end, and ram the dirt well 
into these notches, or place stones in them, as 
shown by Fig. 81, which represents a post with 
stones placed in the notches. Posts may be cut 
on both sides, if they are of good size, so that in 
the thinnest place they will be not more than 
one inch and a half thick, without injuring their 
strength or durability, because at the bottom of 
a post, which is from two to three feet below the 
surface of the ground, but little strength is neces- 
sary ; and at that depth in the ground a post de- 
MODE OF PRE^-EXTiN-G cavs Very slowly. It should be remembered, that 

FK.VCE P( SIS BEING J J 1 T r j.1 J 

LIFTED BY THE FROST. pQsts dccay most at the surface oi the ground. 
"When posts are rather small, a notch may be cut only on one 
side of them for receiving the stone. This is a most effectual 
remedy for the heaving of posts by frost. 




172 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

DiaGING POST HOLES 

226. Is a part of fence building which may be performed at 
" odd spells," and may be done by the forces of the farm which 
are very awkward and unskillful in everything they attempt to 
perform, providing the work is all laid out for them, so that it 
will be barely possible to do anything wrong. In the first 
place, set two stakes and plow a deep trench, as stated, if the 
saving of labor is any object, and then stretch a line four or six 
rods long, and have a httle pole as long as the distance is to be 
between the posts, from centre to centre, and measure along the 
line, and stick a little stake exactly where the centre of every 
hole is to be made. With the spade cut a circle in the sod or 
dirt around these little stakes, and throw out the dirt with the 
spade for one foot or so in depth, if the earth is not too hard to 
be spaded with facility. Let the digger be careful not to work 
the holes so far on one side of the centre that the posts cannot 
be placed in range with each other. There is no necessity of 
digging the holes for ordinary fence posts more than one foot in 
diameter. If the ground is very hard and dry, it must be picked 
up with the crowbar or spud, and taken out with the dirt-spoon. 
If the ground is not stony, the post-hole augur (Fig. 99) may be 
used to great advantage, especially after a hole is two feet deep. 
In digging large holes for gate posts, or straining-posts for wire 
fence, which are to be four feet deep, an expert digger will sink 
such a hole much the quickest by stepping down into it, and by 
making it at least thirty inches in diameter at the top and nearly 
two feet at the bottom. The hole for fence posts should be large 
enough to admit the rammer freely all round them when they 
are being set. 

SETTING FENCE POSTS. 

227. Let the post be placed in the hole so that it will almost 
touch both the upper and lower line, (see mode of adjusting the 
lines, par. 152,) and throw in a little dirt, say enough to fill the hole 
around the post not more than two inches after it is well rammed ; 
put in as much more and ram it, and the post will stand without 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 173 

holding it. Be careful in ramming not to move the post by ram- 
ming too hard on one side of it. Be very particular in making 
the bottoms of the posts firm. Let the dirt be well rammed in 
at the top of the holes, by filling in a little at a time ; and let the 
earth be raised around each post a little above the level of the 
ground, with the hardest kind of dirt. This will keep the posts 
from becoming loose. When small stones are used for filling 
the holes around the posts, they should be placed with care, and 
in such a position that, by being rammed a little, they will hold 
the post very securely. When there is water in post holes, it 
must be bailed out, as it is not practicable to make a post stand 
firmly when there is water in the hole. Posts are somtimes set 
in grmit, which is made of good sand and water-lime, and poured 
among the stones which are placed in the holes around the posts. 
This renders them very firm, but the frosts of winter are very 
liable to injure it as deep as it freezes. 

228. Posts are often set by driving them in a hole made with a 
crowbar ; but as a general thing I never could like it as well as set- 
ting them in holes that have been dug. I have often practised 
driving posts in the bottom of the holes after they have been 
dug two feet deep, and I have always found that this practise 
saves much digging ; and the posts are more solid and quicker 
set than when the holes are dug as deep as the posts are to be set. 
By digging two feet, and driving one foot or more, posts will be 
sufiiciently deep for ordinary fences. 

229. In driving square posts a wrench is very necessary to keep 
them from turning from a right line when they are being driven. 
For this purpose an iron wrench, large enough to fit on the 
post, may be used, or a mortise as large as the post may be made 
in a piece of tough plank, or a gain may be sawed in tlie edge 
of a plank, and the posts held in the desired position by one 
w^orkman while another drives them with a sledge. When 
posts are driven without any digging, the workmen are too apt 
to drive them only twenty or twenty-five inches, instead of thirty- 
five and forty inches deep, as they should be. It is no easy job 
to drive a post three feet into the ground in some localities, while 



174 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

in others a post may be driven clear down with comparatively- 
few blows. In such places driving posts is preferable to setting 
them in holes which have been dug. 



CHARRING POSTS, 

230. With a view to render them more durable, has long been 
commended by men who ought to pass for good authority on 
such subjects ; but the beginner may rest assured that the prac- 
tice is by no means a good one, as a post will last longer when 
not charred than when charred ; and this is particularly true of 
green timber. I am fully persuaded, that if posts of green tim- 
ber be charred it hastens their decay. Charcoal, we all know, is 
very durable in the ground, but posts which have been charred 
are not all converted into charcoal. Simply a small portion of 
the outside, by being charred, is rendered more durable. But 
this does not exclude moisture from the wood inside or beneath 
the charred portion. There is a thin portion of wood just be- 
tween that which has been converted into coal and the remainder 
of the post which has not been affected by the fire, which has 
been heated almost to a burning point, which will quickly decay^ 
when the whole charred portion will afford no more protection 
from the influences of the weather than so much loose charcoal 
placed around a post. Posts are charred usually around the part 
that will come, after they have been set, just at the surface of 
the ground, because posts always decay first near that point ; and 
if that part could be rendered as durable by any artificial means 
as the other portions of the posts, they would last as long as we 
could desire. When posts are charred they are almost always 
burned too much. It is necessary to form only a thin coal on 
the outer surface, which is just as efficacious as if coal an inch 
thick were formed around the posts. 

231. In order to place the matter beyond a doubt, let two 
posts be taken from the same log, and from the same portion of 
the log, and let them be seasoned for one year ; and then let one 
be charred, and botli of them set in the ground where the soil 



THE YOUNG farmer's MANUAL. 175 

and moisture are as nearly equal as they can be, and if the 
charred post outlasts the uncharred one, the result will be in 
favor of charring them. 

STEEPING FENCE POSTS 

232. In different kinds of antiseptic liquid, for the purpose of 
rendering them more durable, has been often practised with very 
good success. The process has been denominated Kyanizing and 
Burnettizing timber, from the names of the inventors, Kyan 
used corrosive sublimate, and Burnett used chloride of zinc. A 
tank or vat is prepared, or a molasses hogshead will subserve a 
good purpose, and about one measure and a half of the dry 
chloride of zinc to about one hundred measures of water are 
put in the tank and well stirred together, when the posts are set 
in this liquid, and allowed to remain ten or fifteen days, or until 
they become thoroughly saturated with the liquid. They should 
then be taken out, and allowed to dry, under cover, until they 
are entirely dry. It is necessary to saturate only that part of the 
posts which is set in the ground, and a few inches above the sur- 
face of the ground. 

233. Dr. Boucherie, of Paris, France, has used for this pur- 
pose about one pound of sulphate of copper to one hundred 
pounds of water. It is contended that timber thus treated is 
rendered more firm, and will endure three times longer than if it 
had not been submitted to the process of steeping it in the liquor 
of an antiseptic character. In some localities there are compa- 
nies having suitable apparatus for impregnating large quantities 
of wood with an antiseptic liquid, for bridges, ships, &c., and it 
is considered to be a process which pays exceedingly well. 

234. The practice of boring a hole in posts near the surface of 
the ground, and filling it with common salt, is but a modification 
of steeping. The salt soon becomes dissolved, and is absorbed 
by the wood, and thus preserves a small portion of the post for 
a short time. All these processes which have been mentioned 
are chemical processes of preserving wood. There are mechani- 
cal modes of preserving posts, of which I will mention but one, 

8 



176 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

which is, smearing the parts of posts near the top of the ground, 
for a few inches above the ground and several inches below it, 
with melted pitch or coal tar, or anything else which will exclude 
the moisture. A mixture of equal parts of pitch and coal tar, 
applied hot to posts, is far more effectual in rendering fence posts 
durable, in my own estimation, than any chemical antiseptic 
liquor that has been used for that purpose. A good coat of such 
materials will protect posts much longer than we are wont to 
suj)pose, until we have tested it in a practical manner. 

THE TOP END OF TIMBER UP, AGAINST TOP END DOWN. 

235. Almost every man who has ever set fence posts, and 
many who have never set a post, will recommend setting them 
with the top end of the wood in the ground, affirming that they 
will last many years longer than if the butt end was set in the 
ground. But we have never seen nor heard of a philosophical 
reason why they will last longer when the top is in the ground ; 
and we never had one atom of confidence in the theory, and we 
never expect to have, until it has been fairly and honestly shown 
that the theory is a correct one. It is a most palpable absurdity 
to affirm that a post will last longer when placed in a reversed 
position from that in which it grew. This is not the place to 
show, by extended argument, that the theory is a false one, but 
those who are anxious to investigate the matter may find an arti- 
cle on this subject from the pen of the author, in the Country 
Gentleman for 1858, page 323. It is sufficient to say, in this 
place, that posts well seasoned before they are set in the ground 
will tell infinitely more on their durability than the position in 
which they may be placed. 

SECTION 7. GATES. 

<' Opes the gate that hung for ages, 
Rusting in its- old repose, 
Which, once swung upon its hinges. 
There's no giant haad can close." — Read's New Pastoral. 

236. A gate closes a passage or opens a way to an enclosure, 
and consists, usually, of a rectangular frame, .made of wood or of 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 



177 



iron, or of both these materials, and is so adjusted on hinges or 
rollers that the force of a child can open and close it at pleasure. 

Fig. 82. 

A 









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a 


h 






8 |\\ 


: 


o 




« 3 


I 


=^ => 




1 •> ^ 


■ 


II 




II ' c II \\ 










o 3 


_Q_ 


11 II 5 il V\ 




o 




. 3 




1 1 


— tT — 


■ I,' «■ *^J -^ 








...L1....1..:. jfcM 



A SUBSTANTIAL FARM GATE. 



237. The essential and very important parts of a gate are, 
a heel-post or stile a (Fig. 82, inserted at the head of this arti- 
cle) ; the head or latch stile h ; the top bar or arm c ; the lower 
arm d ; the slats or the filling, which extend from the heel stile 
to the head stile ; the stay or stays, or those pieces which extend 
across the middle of the gate vertically ; and the struts^ or those 
pieces which extend diagonally in the direction from the bottom 
of the heel stile towards the top of the head stile. Ties extend 
from the upper end of the heel stile to the lower end of the head 
stile, or in that direction. The struts operate as supports to the 
gate to keep it in an unchangeable position and shape. The 
strut of the gate operates as a pillar, and the force applied to it 
is a compressive force. The ties operate in an opposite direction, 
and sustain the gate by suspension. Struts are more effectual in 
keeping a gate in position and shape when they are made of 
wood than when made of iron, unless they are made of a bar 
heavy enough not to be bent by the weight of the gate. Ties 
are more frequently made of wood, in wooden gates, but large 
wire, with a nut and screw on one end, and a head on the other, 
makes a tie which will keep a gate in shape and position as long 
as the wood remains sound. Stays are very important in a gate ; 
and every gate that is long enough to allow a load of grain or of 



178 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

hay to pass, should have not less than one stay. The slats fre- 
quently pass through mortises in the stays, but, as a general 
rule, the stays are nailed, riveted, or bolted to the slats. 

INSTRUCTIONS TO AID IN MAKING A GATE. 

238. Every young farmer should learn to make his own gates. 
It requires but little mechanical skill to make one, and it will 
not be any disadvantage to a man to exercise his mechanical fac- 
ulties in using tools a little, even if he is abundantly able to hire 
every such job performed. It cannot be denied that there 
are a few men in the world who always make a complete hotcli 
of every job they attempt to do, and the true reason is, they lack 
the exercise of energy and perseverance. If a man will go to 
work with a determination to succeed in performing a job well, 
he seldom fails, after a few trials. There are thousands of young 
farmers who could, w4th the instructions we shall give in this 
place, make gates for all their fields, and they need only occupy 
the hours which they squander in idleness. Come on, then, 
my good friends, and make a gate, and hang it in the place of 
those bars which you have taken out and put in a hundred and 
one times during the busy season, and see if you do not detect a 
smile on your countenance every time you go through it ; and 
listen, and jou will, doubtless, hear the proprietor soliloquizing 
thus : " This is truly more convenient than those old bars. I 
Avonder I did not have one years ago. I shall soon save time 
and strength enough to make a gate ; and, more than this, Eddy 
can open and shut it, and turn away the cows, and bring them 
up." Don't be disheartened because you cannot make one quite 
so neatly and quickly as I can. I can make a gate hke any one 
of the cuts given here, and plane it, paint and hang it in a day, and 
dig the holes for the posts ; and can make six such gates in a 
week, in a workmanlike manner, and hang them, too, — and I 
never had one single word of instruction about any part of the 
business. If you will make as good a one in two days, we will 
give you a meed of praise, of " well done." 

239. In the first place, have a log of good oak timber for 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 



179 



gates, like Fig. 82, sawed into stuff, a part three by six inches 
square, for the heel or hinge stiles, and a part into slats, one by 
•three, and a part into upper arms, c, three by six at one end, and 
three by three at the other end, and have the sawyer saw the 
upper arms at the mill like the arm in Fig. 82, as far as the 
jog in it. At the jog in the arm it should be about three 
by four inches. The piece that is taken off will make a good 
head or latch stile. As soon as the timber is sawed out, let 
it be stuck up, very straightly, under shelter, where it can sea- 
son not less than one year. If any of the pieces are sprung 
after being sawed, if the pile is stuck up straight put a lot of 
stones or timber on the pile to bring all the pieces down straight. 
240. The next thing will be, to have a few tools in order to 
work with. The planes must be sharpened after they have been 
ground, on an oil-stone, which will give the irons a fine, keen 
edge (see Edge Tools). Let the chisels be well sharpened, for 
it is impossible to make a good mortise with dull chisels. Let 
the hand-saw be well filed and set. Saw off a piece of scantling 
for the hinge stile, as long as desirable, and plane off the smooth- 
est and truest side of it, and mark it with a pencil as the face 
side. It is very important to have the face side not only straight, 
but true, i. e., not winding. Fig. 83 represents a hinge stile laid 
out ready for mortising ; a is the face side and h the FiG 83. 
work side. If the face side of the stile should be a 
little winding, it may be the means of making the whole 
gate winding. Therefore, to ascertain whether the 
face is winding, lay it on the bench face side up, and 
lay on the square at one end and the jointer planet 
at the other end, and look over the edge of the square 
to the jointer; and if the edges of the square and 
plane coincide with each other, the face is true. If 
the face is not true, the mortises will not be true. 
Apply the try-square, and see if the work side is at a 
right angle with the face. Plane this side straight 
and true, and mark it (see How to Plane). Now, 
with the rule and scratch-awl, prick off the spaces gate sihe. 





180 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

for the mortises (see Fig. 82), and then, with the trj-sqnare 
and scratch-awl, make marks across the work side, &, as in 
the figure. Place the square against the work side always^ not 
against the side opposite the work side, and make the marks across 
the face side of stile, as in the figure. Then, from these marks, 
with the square against the face side, draw the marks on the 
side opposite the work side. Have two points in the gauge 
just one inch apart. (I would not recommend to purchase a 
mortise gauge, for thej cost too much. A common gauge, 
costing fifteen or twenty cents, with two steel points for mark- 
ing, will answer a good purpose.) Run the gauge along against 
the face side, and mark the sides of the mortises, both on the work 
side and on the side opposite to the work side. Lay the stile on 
two benches as high as a man's knees, and have it lay level. One 
cannot work as well when a stick does not lie level. Bore the 
mortises half through from each side, and dress the sides of the 
mortise to the mark. Or the stiles may be bored with the boring 
machine (Fig. 122). Be careful and not break the wood over 
the mark. With mallet and corner chisel, head down the ends. 
If the farmer has no corner chisel, let him procure one, for it is 
worth a score of straight chisels for making mortises. See that 
the mortises are true clear through the stile. If they should be a 
little winding, and if the tenon is made to fit tightly, the stile will 
most certainly split when the gate is put together. Now plane 
out the latch stile, and lay it by the side of the other stile ; and 
lay out the mortises, and see if they correspond with each other. 
After the mortises are made, bore the holes for the draw-pins 
in the stiles. Half-inch or five-eighths are sufficiently large. 
Dress out the arm of the gate, having a face side and a work 
side. Let the face side on the arm be on the face side of the 
stile, and the work side of the arm upwards. Lay out the tenons 
with the gauge, and make them a sixteenth of an inch wider 
than the length of the mortise, so that they will be tight when 
driven in. If the tenons are a trifle too thick, they will split the 
stile. Make the tenons on the slats, and have a little shoulder 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 181 

on one edge at each end. See that the tenons on the slats are 
not too thick, but have them a sixteenth of an inch wider than 
the mortise. Drive stiles and slats firmly together, and mark 
the tenons in the holes of the stiles with the bit. Drive tlie 
stiles partly off, and bore the holes in the tenons about a six- 
teenth of an inch nearer the shoulders than they are in the 
stile. Give all the tenons a good painting, or smear them 
with coal tar, and drive them together and pin them, painting 
the pins when they are driven in. A gate usually decays first 
in the joints, and if they be well painted, and the draw pins, 
which should be made of oak or yellow locust, well painted 
when they are driven in, a gate will last forty years. Put on 
the stays by cutting a gain on one side of the arm, about half 
an inch deep, and halve the ends of the stays, and paint the 
joints, and fasten them with carriage-bolts. If it is thought best, 
lay out the mortises for the slats in the stiles half an inch on 
one side of the centre^ and then make mortises in the under side of 
the arm two inches deep for the stays. Put small carriage-bolts 
through the lower ends of the stays and bottom slat. A wrought 
nail will answer through the other slats and stays. Let in the 
strut in the hinge stile and upper arm, by making a gain half an 
inch deep. Make the strut first, and then mark off the gains, 
and have it fit tightly. If the upper hinge is not bolted to the 
arm, as in Fig. 82, put not less than three draw-pins through 
the tenon of the upper arm, because there is great strain on this 
arm, which tends to draw the tenon out, while the strain on the 
lower arm or slats is inward. I have mentioned the most impor- 
tant considerations in making a gate. Space will not allow me 
to give all the minutiae. 

HANGING GATES. 

241. The first step in hanging a gate of any kind is, to decide 
how it is desired to have it hung. One must decide whether he 
will have it hung so as to open both ways, or but one way only, 
and whether it is to be so hung that it will remain at rest at any 
point which it may pass in opening it ; or whether it shall be so 



182 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 



adjusted on its hinges that it will shut of its own accord when 
it has been opened at any angle, in one-fourth of a circle. Gates 
may be so hung that they will immediately open when unlatched, 
and swing back to a right angle ; or they may be hung so as to 
shut themselves when opened at a right angle. Many farmers 
seem to think it very important that a gate should be hung so as 
to shut of its own accord ; while others prefer to have it hung so 
as to swing open when unlatched, and remain open ; and others 
choose to have a gate hung on an even balance. Hanging a gate 
according to one's fancy may sometimes not be practicable, on 



Fig. 84. 




«-ii- 



STTLE OF GATE HINGES CALLED HOOKS AND STRAPS. 

account of the kind of hinges. With hooks and straps, hke 
Fig. 84, gates may be hung so as to open or shut of their own 
accord, or to remain at rest when opened 
±1 IG. 85. ^ wide or opened but little. But with such 
/\ I hinges they cannot be opened both ways. 

With hooks and eyes, like Fig. 85, they 
may be hung to open both ways, and at the 
same time they may be hung so as to be 
self-opening or self-closing. The most proper 
and expeditious manner of drawing out a 
gate hinge from a post is, to bore a hole 
close to the hinge, above or below it, a little 
larger than the hinge, and then with a cold- 
chisel crowd it down or up into the hole 
bored. A large nail or spike may be taken 
out in the same manner. 
242. We will now show how the farmer may hang his gates, 
no matter what may be the style of hinges, so as to suit his wishes. 



^j^---> 









5 ^ 



THE YOUNG FAKMER's MANUAL. 183 

And should one mode of hanging tliem not seem to coincide with 
the fancy of his fastidious neighbor, we will lay down rules which 
will aid him in hanging his gates to his mind. If Mr. A. wants 
his gates to swing ojoen as soon as unlatched, exposing his crops, 
or offering an opportunity to cattle to leave their enclosure and 
run away, or to enter on forbidden ground, will he allow me the 
prerogative to hang my gates so that they will close of themselves^ 
rather than swing open when unlatched. Gates are often left 
open by children ; and indolent interlopers, wandering about the 
fields, are frequently too lazy to shut a gate. Therefore, if a 
gate should, by any means, get unlatched, if it is himg so as to 
shut itself, it may be the means of saving much damage to a crop, 
or the running away of animals. Vicious cattle and horses are 
often rubbing and hooking about gates, and if they happen to un- 
latch them and they immediately swing open, they are more in- 
clined to try their skill again in opening them. But if a gate is 
hung on an even balance, or so as to shut itself, they are obliged 
to learn, not only to unlatch a gate, but to push it open, 
before they can pass through. Now, if one unruly animal has 
succeeded in getting through the gate, if the gate closes after 
him, the others must necessarily learn the tricks of their leader 
before they can follow him. 

243. It is important that the farmer should understand the 
principle of hanging gates so as to make them swing any way he 
may desire, or have them remain at rest, which is nothing more 
nor less than adjusting the centre of gravity in the gate. The 
centre of the turning points of the hinges, i. e., the centre of the 
hooks and the centre of the eyes, are the two centres of motion. 
The whole gate, in swinging, is supported by and revolves around 
these two points. If, now, the higher point of the centre of mo- 
tion is perpendicularly above the lower centre of motion, a gate 
will be hung on an even balance, and will remain in any part of 
the circle which it describes, in opening and closing. It is no 
difficult job for a skillful workman to set the posts for a gate by 
the square rule, and attach the hinges, doing everything by meas- 
uring, so as to have a gate swing as he may desire. But the 
8* 



184 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

young farmer must first understand the '■^ cut and try ^^ mode of 
hanging a gate, which is the most practicable, and most generally 
practised, even by the best workmen. 

244. We will run through with the operation of hanging a 
gate. Set the heel or hinge post firmly (see Fig. 82), with the 
inside, at least, perpendicular. (The inside of a post is the side 
towards the latch post.) If the gate is to be hung with hooks 
and eyes, like those represented at Fig. 85, it is best to hang 
the gate so as to swing both ways. After the heel post 
is set firmly, strike a perpendicular line on the inside of it. Put 
the eyes in the heel stile of the gate, square through the stile. 
If it is desirable to have a gate hung so as to shut itself, the 
upper hooh must be about two inches longer than the lower, and 
the lower eye must be about two inches longer than the upper 
one. This subject will be made more intelligible by reference to 
Fig. 85, which represents the position of the hinges as just de- 
scribed. It will be readily perceived, that when a gate thus 
hung is swung around through a quarter of a circle, or more, it 
will not stand perpendicularly, but is inclined towards the gateway. 
This inclination tends to close the gate. If it is desirable to have 
a gate swing open itself, all that is necessary is, to reverse the 
hinges^ having a long hooh at the bottom, and a short one at the 
top. When a gate is hung in this way, when open at a quarter 
of a circle, or at a right angle, it will lean from the gateway. 
This inclination tends to keep the gate open. 

245. When a gate is hung with hooks and straps, hke Fig. 
84, a gate can open but one way, and it may be hung on an 
even balance, or so as to swing open or to swing shut. The 
straps should be bolted first to the gate, and if it is desirable 
to hang it so as to swing shut, let the lower strap extend be- 
yond the heel stile of the gate about one inch and a half fiir- 
ther than the top one. Set the gate post, and plumb the 
inside of it, and also the side of it where the hinges are to be 
put. After the straps are bolted on the gate, set it up and 
hold it in the position it is to hang, and bore the holes for the 
hooks, observing to keep the bit or auger directly under the eye 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 185 

of the strap. Drive the hooks partly into the post, and hang 
the gate on, minding to keep the latch end of the gate blocked 
up until the hinges are driven clear in. If the farmer would 
have his gate swing open, let the upper strap on the gate extend 
beyond the lower one about an inch and a half. Another way 
of hanging with hooks and straps, so as to have a gate swing 
open or shut, is to let both straps extend an equal distance be- 
yond the heel stile of the gate, just as they do when a gate is to 
be hung on an even balance. Now, if the gate, when it is being 
opened, swings to the south, for example, set the heel post lean- 
ing to the north about an inch and a half from a perpendicular 
Hne. This slight inclination of a post will hardly be perceived 
by the bystander, and yet so slight an inclination will close a 
gate quickly when it is open a quarter of a circle; but w^hen 
swung heyond a right angle, it will swing back the other way. 
In order to have a gate swing o'pen when unlatched, when it is 
hung as last mentioned, let the heel post lean a little the way 
the gate swings open. It will then open at a right angle, and 
there remain, and if swung back through half a circle, it will re- 
turn again, itself, to a right angle, when set free. 

246. I have been unusually particular in the preceding para- 
graphs, in order to show the farmer what is necessary to make a 
gate sw^ng to his mind which has been hung for a long time, and 
needs righting up a little. If, for instance, a gate has been hung 
on an equal balance, but will swing open one way, and swing 
shut from the other way, the heel post leans the way the gate 
swings open, and must be righted up a little, if we would liaye 
the gate remain at rest when open or partly closed, 

247. When it is desirable to have a gate, when hung with 
iron hinges, open both ways, and shut itself from both ways, the 
gate should be hung with hook and eye at the top, as show^n at 
Fig. 85, and with a forked hinge at the bottom, like Fig. 86. 
The forks rest against two staples which are driven into the heel 
posts, one of which is represented at Fig. 87. The staples are 
made of half-inch round iron, about two inches wide and three 
inches lone;, and the forked hinp;e mav be made in ore or less' 



186 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

forked or branching. For ordinary purposes the forks should be 
about four or five inches apart from centre to centre. When the 
forks are six inches apart, the gate will close itself so rapidly, 
from a right angle, as to break the latch, or to split the latch 
stile when it closes. The true way to hang a gate on such 
hinges is, to put the hinges in the gate stile first, and then set the 
heel post perpendicularly on the inside, and strike a line on the 

Fig. 86 



Fig. 87, 





A FOREKD GATE-mXGE. A STAPLE ]"OK KJKMEU GAIE-HIXGES. 

inside of the post, from top to bottom ; and having driven tlie upper 
hook in the post, in the line, hang on the gate, and drive in the 
staples at an equal distance from the plumb line on the post. A 
gate hung in this manner may be made to swing open both ways 
of itself, by leaning the heel ^osi from the gateway far enough to 
raise the latch end of the gate four or five inches above a hori- 
zontal line, 

248, The advantages of the forked hinge over hooks and eyes, 
or hooks and straps, are : the latch end of the gate, in opening 
either way a quarter of a circle, rises from eight to twelve inches, 
more or less, according to the length of the gate and the width 
of the forked hinge, and the distance the hinges are apart. This 
is a matter of convenience when snow obstructs the gatewa}^, or 
when the ground on one side of a gate would not allow a gate 
to bo opened horizontally. When a fence runs down a slope, 
having a gate in it, if the heel or hinge post is set on the upper 
side of the gateway, the latch end of a gate will rise on being 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 



187 



opened, and allow the gate to be opened wider than with any- 
other hinges. 

249. Fig. 88 represents a cheap wooden gate, with wooden 

Fig. 88. 




A SELF-SHUTTING GATE WITH WOODEN U1-\GES 



hinges, self shutting, when opened either way. The dotted lines 
running up and down the heel stile, cutting the centre of the 
upper and lower hinge, which lines should be about two inches 
asunder, will show how to make the round parts of the stile. 
The round parts of the stile should be not less than two and a 
half or three inches in diameter. The bottom eye should be made 
of a good piece of hard, durable wood, about three by six inches 
square, and the mortise for receiving it should be not less than 
three by four inches square and six inches deep, and the tenon of 
the eye and mortise should be well painted or tarred before the 
eye is firmly driven in. 

250. To hang such a gate with the greatest facility and dis- 
patch, drive in the lower hinge and put the hinge post in its 
hole, and fill it just enough to keep the post erect ; then put the 
gate on the lower hinge, and drive in the upper eye while it is 
hooked on the upper end of the stile. Block up the latch end of 
the gate on a level with the heel end, and plumb the side of the 
heel stile, keeping it in that position while the hole is filled to the 
surface. Afterwards set the latch post. Instead of having the 
loioer end of the heel stile made round for a liinge, it may be 



188 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 



square on the end, and a piece of three-quarter-incli round iron 
driven into the lower end of the stile, and passing through the 
wooden eye which supports the gate. In such a case the wooden 
eye need not be more than two and a half inches square, but it 
should always be made of the very best of timber. Always keep 
wooden hinges well greased. Never put on tar, because it will 
soon become hard and. wear the hinges more than if nothing were 
used as a lubricator. . This style of gates will correspond well 
with fences like Figs. 30 and 32. 

251. Fig. 89 represents a very neat board gate, to correspond 

Fig. 89. 




CARRUGE-YARD GATE, THREE FECT SIX IXCUES lajll. 

with the style offence like Fig. 32. The heel stile is about three 
by four inches square, and the latch stile two by three square, of 
oak, or other hard and durable timber. The stay may be mor- 
tised for the slats, or halved on one side, and a ribbon of a cor- 
responding width fitted to the other side and bolted with carriage 
bolts. The struts are one inch by two, neatly fitted, one on each 
side of the gate, and bolted with carriage bolts. Carriage bolts 
are much better than rivets, because they will draw the struts 
tighter than rivets, and are more easily put in ; and they cost no 
more, and look much better than rivets ; and in case a gate gets 
broken it can be readily taken apart, whereas it would be no de- 
sirable job to get out a lot of rivets after they have been firmly 
put in. The latch plays in a mortise in the latch stile, and is 
suspended by a little chain near one end. The gate may be from 
ten to twelve feet long, with boards one inch thick, and widths 
and spaces as indicated by the figures in the illustration. The 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 



189 



tenons should be well painted, and also the surfaces of conjunc- 
tion between all other parts. The cap board is as wide as the 
stiles, with the ends let in them about half an inch, as shown in 
the figure. When such a gate opens into the highway, it looks 
quite as well to have it hung with hooks and strap-hinges, like 
Fig. 84. 



A STRUT AND PICKET GATE. 

252. Fig. 90 represents, in the eyes of many people, a very 

Fig. 90. 




A STULT A.\D PICKET GXIE. 



tasty and fanciful style of lawn gate. The heel stile is about two 
and a half by four or five inches, and the latch stile two and a 
half by two, and the arms also two and a half by two. The bot- 
tom board is about eight inches wide and three inches below the 
lower arm. The struts are one inch thick and two and a half 
wide, and the ends sawed off in a mitre-box. In nailing on the 
struts, commence with the shortest one, at the heel stile. The 
pickets may be of any desirable style, with or without ornamen- 
tal tops, or the tops may be plain and tapering to a point. Sucli 
a gate ought to be hung with hooks and strap hinges, bolted to 
the stile and the upper arm. If such a gate is more than nine 
feet long, there should be a stay bolted to the arms and bottom 
board in the middle of the gate. When such a gate is used very 
often, it would be much better to have a double gate — two short 
ones — than one twelve feet in length. It may be fastened with 
a latch or hook, [t would be well to have an iron tie on a gate 



190 



THE YOUNG FARMER S MANUAL. 



of this style, to keep it from sagging, as without one the arms 
may bow upwards more or less. 



A PICKET GATE FOR A LAWN ENTRANCE. 

253. Fig. 91 represents a very good style for a picket gate, 

Fig. 91. 




A GATE WITH SQUARE PICKETS. 



and it may be made in two parts, or whole, as represented by the 
cut. The hinge stile is three by four or five inches, the latch 
stile two by three inches, the arms two by three, and the pickets 
about an inch and one-fourth square. The arms are about two 
feet apart, and the longest picket extends twenty inches above 
the upper arm, and the shortest ones about eight inches above it. 
The ends of the stiles are pointed also. The bottom board may 
be close to the lower arm, or two or three inches below it. 

254. In making such a gate, make the mortises in the upper 
arm smooth and true through the arm, and dress out the pickets 
one inch and a fourth square, and point them in the vise, with 
drawing-knife and plane. Drive in the longest one first, and then 
extend a line from the point of it to the point of the stiles, and 
drive in the others. Let them be dressed so that they will fill 
the mortise water-tight. When they are all in, nail them, and 
saw off the lower ends, and drive on the lower arm, and it will 
be then ready for the stiles and bottom board. Let the tenons 
and parts of pickets in the arms be well painted, before putting 
them together. Hang it with hinges, which may be bolted to the 
stile and arm, like Fig. 84. I have been thus explicit on this 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 



191 



gate, because many workmen are at a loss to know how to put it 
together in the most advantageous manner. 



WtRE GATES. 



255. Fig. 92 represents a ivire gate, with the heel or hinge 
stile and latch stile of wood, upper and lower arms of wood, with 

Fig. 92. 




A WOOD AND WIEE GATE. 



the wij-es passing through the stiles, and the two ends twisted 
together. The hinge stile should be at least four inches wide, 
although five inches would be better, and the latch stile should 
be at least three inches wide, and, for ordinary gates, about two 
and a half thick. Both the upper and lower arms should be 
tapering, as represented in the illustration, and the deeper, up 
and down, they are, at the hinge stile, the less liable a gate is to 
sag. At the other ends of the arms they need not be more than 
two and a half inches square. Wire as large as number twelve, 
(see Fig. 40,) well annealed, is sufficiently large for filling be- 
tween the arms. Two wires are put at one place, and strained, 
by putting a short rod of iron between them at the middle of the 
gate, and turning it over and over until it is sufficiently tight. 
Before straining them, however, a stiff rail or pole should be 
placed parallel with the wires, between the stiles, to prevent the 
wires, when they are being twisted, from springing the latch stile 
inward. After all the wires are strained, this rail may be re- 
moved, and the wires will all remain of the same tension. Should 
any of the wires become a little slack they can be strained a 



192 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 



little more, at any time, as two wires when twisted together will 
not untwist of their own accord. 



AN IRON AND WIRE LAWN GATE. 

256. Fig. 93 represents a very neat and cheap gate, made en- 
tirely of iron and wire, with posts of stone. The posts may be 




lEON LAWN GATE WITU STONE POST. 



maae of small stone, laid up in cement, with hinges for gates 
and staples for wires laid in the cement. The hinges should 
extend entirely through the posts ; and the staples, for attaching 
the wires of a fence on each side of the gateway, should also be 
long enough to reach from side to side of the posts, with the 
ends bent like a square hook, to prevent their drawing out. The 
stiles and arms may be of cast or wrought iron, with holes in 
each side for the wires, which may be put in and strained by 
twisting them together, as recommended in Fig. 92. A very 
light pattern may be made of wood, with both sides of the gate 
alike, and gates cast after it. Two such gates swinging together 
may be used to close a drive or carriage-way. At a and b two 
cross sections of the stiles and arms are shown. The top may 
be ornamented with pickets of any style, and cast with the gate. 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 



193 



The hinges may be also cast with the gate. The pattern for latch 
stile may be made of stuff an inch and a half by three-eighths, and 
the hinge stile a trifle heavier. The posts should be of very small 
stone, with the joints pointed, and the top mounted with a square 
cope stone, with any ornament on the summit of these. Should a 
wire fence be attached, the post should be most substantially 
braced, so that the frost would not move the posts by lifting the 
ends of the braces. 

257. Fig. 94 repre- Fig. 94. 

sents a very cheap but 
durable farm gate, which 
has one quality to recom- 
mend il, of which the 
other gates noticed are 
destitute, which is, it is 
adjustable on the hinges, 
and when snow obstructs 
the way it can be raised 
as high as the top of the 
hinge post, and fastened 
there by putting a small 
iron pin into the round 
part of the post, under the end of the upper arm. The top 
end of the post is turned round, not less than three inches in 
diameter, and, instead of passing through the upper arm, a strip 
of band iron may be bent around it, and bolted to the end of the 
arm. The lower hinge is made of a tough piece of hard wood 
plank, not less than two inches thick, of a form corresponding to 
the size of the post, with a gain in one side. The lower end of 
the heel stile is fitted to this gain, and the hinge is bolted to the 
stile, and plays on the outside of the post. A gate hung in this 
manner will swing entirely round the post. The slats of such a 
gate may be of narrow boards instead of wire, or pickets may 
be nailed on the arms. Let the hinges be kept well greased. 
Sometimes an iron pin is put through the end of the arm into 
the top) of the p>os\ instead of letting the post extend above tlie 




A CHEAP wool) AND AVIKE GATE. 



194 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 



gate, as shown in. the figure ; but the stress at that point is so 
hard, that a small iron pin, if it were not turned smooth, would 
in a few years wear a large hole in the arm. This gate will 
open either way, and hangs on an even balance at whatever 
point it may be opened. It may be fastened with a latch or 
hook. 



SELF-SUSTAINING GATEWAY. 

258. Fig. 95 represents a gateway which some men prefer to 
all others, because it has many things to recommend it which are 
not available where nothing but bare posts are used. It is self- 
sustaining, and may be successfully used in localities where rock 
lies near the surface of the soil, where it would be impracticable 

Fig. 95. 







SKLF-SUSTAINING GATEWAY. 



to dig post holes. It may be made as ornamental as desirable 
by casing the posts c c and the plate d. One gate, or two, may 
be hung to the posts, and by having the hooks (hinges) go 
through the posts, and fasten with nuts and screws on the outside, 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 195 

the hooks can be taken out with facility and put into holes one 
or two feet higher in the winter when the snow is deep, which is 
a convenience of no trivial consideration in many localities where 
snow is liable to drift about the gate. The bed-piece a should 
be of durable timber, and extend a little on the outside of the 
posts and braces. The sills h h should be let into the bed-piece 
about two inches. The posts need not be more than six inches 
square, and the plate four by six. The gains, tenons and mor- 
tises should all be painted well, or smeared with coal tar. By 
attaching a piece of plank each post may be used as a straining- 
post for wire fence. The bed-piece a may be a round log, flat- 
tened d little on the upper side, withf the surface not less than 
three inches above the surface of the ground. The sills should 
not be set on the ground, but supported with flat stones. 

EAILWAY GATES. 

259. It may be asked why I do not give an illustration of a 
railway gate, since there are so many different styles of them. 
If I had ever seen one that I truly admired as economical and 
convenient, I would not fail to give a description and illus- 
tration of it, but I have never seen one that I liked half as 
well as a hinge gate ; and I never have known one instance 
where a man had used a railway gate for a few years who did 
not utterly dislike it, and wish a good hinge gate were in its 
place. An illustration of one looks well, and a new gate looks 
well, and if well made will work well for a few seasons ; but if it is 
used very much the wheels will soon rub hard against the wood, 
and will make it run hard ; and in wet and wintry weather the 
wheels will be frozen fast, and a man's strength will be required 
to open it ; and, more than all else, a railway gate is more expen- 
sive than a hinge gate. A good stick of timber, more than 
enough for two gate posts, is required for the track, and as it is 
laid near the surface of the ground, it will not last but a few 
seasons. A man will make and hang a good hinge gate with 
loss timber and in less time than a railway gate, and when it is 
rnii.<hed it will outlast the railway gate by twice the number of 



196 THE YOUNG FAKMER's MANUAL. 

years, and be twice as convenient. A railway gate is always 
getting off the track, or something else, and the proprietor is 
always wishing that he had never seen such a vexatious nuisance. 



SECTION 8. HEDGES FOR FENCE. 

" In rural shades, 'mong rural hills and dales. 
The Osage Thorn supplies the place of rails. 
The Yellow Locust, with far-reaching roots, 
Of rapid growth, and thorny, numerous shoots ; 
Or the Red Cedar, with its ugly arms, 
Guards safe the way between adjoining farms." — Edwards. 

260. On the subject of hedges I shall be unusually brief, be- 
cause at the present day many writers, and experimenters, too, of 
unquestionable authority, pronounce hedges a total failure, while, 
on the contrary, others, of equally good authority, speak of them 
in the most approved terms. It cannot be denied that good 
hedges have been made in America, and that there are now 
hundreds of miles of hedges which will turn, effectually, every 
kind of animals that are allowed to have their liberty on the 
farm. It is granted that there have been very many total fail- 
ures in making hedges, but the cause of failure could not be 
attributed to the materials employed, but to the manner of arrang- 
ing and disposing them, and to the improper treatment which 
they received at the time of transplanting, and for a year or two 
afterwards. The first steps in making a hedge decide the ques- 
tion whether it will ultimately prove a failure or a success. Be- 
cause one man has failed in his attempts to make a hedge, the 
beginner should not be deterred from exercising his ingenuity 
and skill, if he wishes to have a hedge, hj endeavoring to pro- 
duce one that will not disappoint his expectations. Hedges 
require care and protection, and sometimes a Httle skillful pruning 
and other treatment, in order to render the plants even, vigorous 
and strong. There are miles in length of most beautiful hedges, 
in many of the older States, which have stood for years as an 
impassable barrier to every animal that it is desirable to turn on 



THE YOUNG FARMEK'S MANUAL. 197 

a farm, besides being a most beautiful appendage to a well cul- 
tivated farm. And, without doubt, more than an equal number 
of miles of hedge can be found, which, on account of its having 
received improper treatment and cultivation during the first 
years of its growth, stand, not only as a complete failure, but as 
a nuisance on a farm, and an eye-sore to a skillful farmer. 

261. The first step in making a hedge is, to prepare the soil 
where the hedge is to stand. If the soil be wettish it should be 
thoroughly drained. It would be folly to attempt to grow a 
hedge in a locality where it would be too wet to raise good 
winter wheat. But few kinds of trees will flourish well where 
there is an excess of water in the soil. If the soil needs a ditch 
where the hedge is to stand, a portion of the distance, or all of it, 
commence preparing the ground the season previous to planting 
the hedge, in order to have a deep, well pulverized soil for the 
roots to ramify in. The use of the ground need not be lost 
while the hedge is growing, but it wdll be an advantage to raise 
a crop every year, until the hedge is sufficiently large to turn 
animals. Stake off a strip where a hedge is to be planted, about 
sixteen feet wide, or wide enough to have, at least, two or three 
rows of potatoes on each side of the rows of hedge plants. It 
is better to have the strip unnecessarily wide than to have it too 
narrow^ or so narrow that the ground on each side of the hedge 
cannot be cultivated with a horse and scarifier of some kind. 
Commence plowing this land early in the fall. If there is sod 
on the ground, commence in the spring. Plow it four or five 
times, at least, before winter, throwing the furrows outward at 
every plowing. This process will produce a deep middle furrow^ 
and the deeper it can be plowed the better. After working the 
land as deep as is convenient with the plow, make a ditch in the 
middle so that it would be not less than three feet deep on a level. 
Tile it or stone it well, having a good outlet for the water. Fill 
the ditch with dirt, and let the whole remain exposed to the 
influence of the frosts and rains of winter, which will make the 
whole soil very mellow. This operation is very important, where 
the soil is inclined to be lumpy during the summer, and where 



198 THE TtOUNG FARML-R'S MANUAL. 

the subsoil is very stubborn. On gravelly soils, or on any other 
soils where the roots of trees strike deep readily, where the sub- 
soil has not been pulverized, this operation is not necessary. 
The operator must exercise his own judgment, whether or not his 
soil would be improved by such a process. In many localities, 
such a preparation of soil for a hedge would be injurious, and a 
hedge would not flourish as luxuriantly on it as it would have 
done had the subsoil been allowed to remain untouched. Where 
a soil can be benefited by fall plowing, such a preparation is very 
necessary. 

262. On the succeeding spring, as soon as the soil is dry 
enough to plow, plow this strip of land by turning the furrows 
inxoard at every plowing, until it is six or eight inches higher 
over the ditch than it is at the sides. Level it with a harrow 
and mark out the rows with a plow, and it is ready for the plants. 

263. When the soil is not of a uniform quality throughout the 
whole distance, care and pains should be taken to make it so, as 
far as practicable. In crossing a field forty or fifty rods in width, 
for instance, a portion of the distance may be a deep, mellow, 
and very fertile soil, where almost anything would flourish rapidly, 
while, perhaps, only a few rods from this fertile soil, on a little 
rise of ground, for a number of rods in length, the soil is very 
compact, stubborn and barren. When this is the case, a few 
loads of the good soil should be hauled, and well mingled with 
the poor soil before the plowing is finished ; and there should be 
enough spread along on the top to set the plants in. Besides 
mingling the different kinds of soil, some parts of the land should 
be well manured, and plowed in at the last plowing. The idea 
to be kept in mind is, to have the soil, for the entire distance as 
nearly as may be, of a uniform character, so that the hedge will 
be of a uniform height throughout. If the soil be barren in one 
place for a few rods, and very fertile in another place, it will be 
impracticable to produce a hedge that will be at all beautiful, and 
efficient for the purpose of turning animals. If the soil is not 
sufficiently fertile to produce good crops of grain, it should be 
well manured with chip manure where the soil is compact, if it 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. ' 199 

can be obtained, or with well-rotted barnyard manure. It would 
be great follj to transplant a lot of quicks in a soil where they 
would not make a good growth the first season. It is no uncom- 
mon thing to meet with barren spots in fields that are considered 
to be in a good state of cultivation, and whenever a hedge is to 
be made through such a place, it must be plowed and pulverized, 
and enriched thoroughly, or we may rest assured that in such 
places hedges will prove a complete failure. 



HOW TO OBTAIN THE QUICKS. 

264. When a farmer contemplates making a hedge, he should 
sow the seed in drills in the nursery, in a soil which is not in a 
better state of cultivation than the soil where the hedge is to be 
made. If quicks be taken from a nursery where the soil has 
been manured very highly, and transplanted where the soil is of 
an inferior character, they will not grow as much in a season, if 
they grow at all, as if they had been taken from a soil inferior to 
the soil into which they are now to be transplanted. The prac- 
tice of taking plants from a rich, well-cultivated soil, and trans- 
planting them into a soil inferior to the one from which they 
were taken, operates like taking a well-fed animal from his regu- 
lar allowance of grain and good hay, and compelling him to sub- 
sist on straw only. In order to have the quicks grow well, the 
soil where the hedge is to be planted should be quite as rich, 
mellow, and fertile as that soil is from which the quicks are taken 
when they are to be transplanted. For this simple reason the 
farmer will succeed much better in his attempts to grow a hedge 
if he sows his own seed and raises his own quicks, than he will to 
purchase of professional nurserymen, whose grounds are kept in 
a high state of cultivation by an abundant supply of good ma- 
nure. Farmers often purchase quicks — and the same thing holds 
good with fruit-trees — of men whose grounds have been made 
as rich as they could conveniently be made with manure ; and 
although they have transplanted them in the best manner, and 
have cultivated the soil on which they stand in the mo^t thorough 
9 



200 THE YOUNG FAKMER's MANUAL. 

manner, still, during the first season or two, many of them barely 
live, without growing two inches. 

265. Does the beginner ask. Why not sow the seed where the 
hedge is to grow ? One reason is, the quicks would not be as 
well protected from cattle, usually, as if they w^ere in the nursery ; 
and another reason is, it would not be as practicahle to produce 
a hedge with the quicks of so uniform size and distance apart 
from planting the seed, as it would to grow them in a nursery, 
and then transplant them. Were it not for the fact that plants 
of almost every kind, when produced from the seed sown in 
drills, will in some places be very vigorous, while others will not 
grow as rapidly as they ought to in order to keep of a uniform 
size and height, and were it not also for the failure of some of 
the seed to grow, and the liability of the quicks to be of unequal 
distances apart, and to stand not in a line, as they should, it would 
be as well to sow the seed where the hedge is to be made. It 
will, as a general rule, be found to be the most convenient, eco- 
nomical, and best, to grow the young plants in a nursery, and 
transplant them where the hedge is to stand. The soil should be 
prepared as for carrots or beets, and sowed, with a drill or by 
hand, in rows from thirty to forty inches apart, to suit the pro- 
prietor. It is best to have them far enough apart to allow a 
horse and scarifier to pass between them. In clayey soils that 
are inclined to bake over the seed, the drills should be covered 
with black dirt or mould, or fine chip manure, tan bark, sawdust, 
or such hke. The seed is usually sown thicker than the quicks 
should be allowed to stand, and must be thinned out so as to stand 
from two to three inches apart. Let them be nursed, and 
the ground kept clean and mellow about them ; and remember, 
that weeds in some States wiU grow four times as fast as the 
young plants, and if not kept down the plants will soon be 
smothered. 

TAKING UP THE QUICKS. 

266. When the young plants are dug up, if dug with a spade, 
great care should be exercised by the laborers not to mutilate 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 201 

the roots more than can be avoided. "When there are many to 
take "up, it can be performed very expeditiously with a plow and 
team. Let the tops all be cut off within about four inches of 
the ground with a stiff very sharp grass scythe; and then, if one 
has a subsoil plow, let the plow run about eight or ten inches 
deep, if the roots run as deep as that, on each side of a row, 
about eight inches from the row ; and then a third furrow, with the 
handles of the plow leaning to the left, will loosen all the plants 
so that they can be taken up with the hands without any spade 
or mattock. When the roots run very deep, those who raise 
many thousands of plants have a plow made almost expressly 
for such a purpose, with a very w4de wing to the plow point for 
the purpose of cutting off the long tap roots ; but ordinary farm- 
ers may use any plow, and hitch on a strong team to plow up 
the row, and if half of them or more get covered up, let them 
be hauled out with manure hooks. After they are all taken up, 
they should be assorted, and no little care should be exercised to 
keep the roots from being injured by sunshine or drying winds 
while they are out of the ground. If thought best to take them 
up in autumn, and to keep them in the cellar during winter, as 
many prefer to do, the roots should be well covered with sand or 
loam to keep them from wilting. 

ASSORTING THE QUICKS. 

267. The object of assorting quicks for a hedge is, to have all 
those of a uniform size planted together. If they be transplanted 
without any regard to size, with the small ones mingled with the 
large ones, the large ones will most certainly overgrow the puny 
ones, making a weak place in the hedge. There will be many 
quicks which are not fit to transplant into the hedge row, and 
which should be rejected as worthless, or left in the nursery to 
grow another year. If such quicks be planted with others which 
have strong, healthy roots, the roots of the large quicks will spread 
all around where the roots of the small weak plants should be, 
thus robbing the small ones of their necessary nourishment ; but 
by transplanting those of a given size together, i. e., those having 



202 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

roots and stems about of an equal size, the hedge will grow up 
of a uniform size and strength. If, for instance, there are quicks 
enough in one lot to make a hedge row four or six rods in length, 
let the smallest ones be set together in the best soil, if there 
should be any difference in the quality of it, and the largest ones 
in the poorest locations. Assorting the quicks properly is one of 
the most important parts of making hedges. It requires the 
exercise of keen and quick perception, and good discrimination 
and judgment. In assorting them the operator should select one 
of the largest and most vigorous quicks in the lot, and lay it by 
itself. Then select as small a one as is fit to be transplanted. 
Select one or two, if there be much difference in their sizes, of a 
size between those already selected. These will answer for a 
common standard. Distribute the quicks, with the large ones by 
themselves, and the small ones and those of medium size by 
themselves. One must be guided in assorting, not only by the 
size of the stems alone, but by the size of both roots and stems. 
Should a small quick have very strong and vigorous roots, it 
would be better to rank it with those having roots of about an 
equal size. If a large quick has but few roots, it should not be 
placed with the large ones because it has a large stem, but it 
should be placed with those having roots which correspond in size 
the nearest to it. The operator cannot be too particular in this 
operation, for not only the beauty and evenness of a hedge de- 
pend on a judicious assorting of the quicks, but their efficiency is 
involved in it. If quicks be transplanted without the foregoing 
considerations, gaps and weak places in a hedge will surely follow^ 



SECTION 9. TRANSPLANTING QUICKS. 

<* Beneath the sunny, vernal sky, 
Now scoop the mellow earth aside, 
And bury in the fertile soil 
The tiny rootlets spreading wide." — Edwards. 

268. In the first place take the plow, adjusted to run about 
three inches deep, and turn two furrows fro7n each other, wliere 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 203 

the hedge is to be planted. Next, with a shovel, clean out the 
trench, three or four inches deep, and wide enough to receive the 
roots of the largest quicks, when they are fully extended from 
side to side, without their being bent sideways. The roots should 
spread out as far as they will reach, and all the little roots and 
spongioles should be spread out to their full extent, as they origin- 
ally grew. Cut oj0f all tap roots smoothly, and cut off the ends 
of those roots that have been mutilated in digging up the plants. 
Stretch a line about three or four rods long, about an inch on one 
side of the place where the row is to stand. Have it high 
enough so as not to be in the way when hauling in the dirt. 
Let knots be tied in this hne, as far apart as the quicks are to be 
planted. Set each quick about an inch from the line, at every 
knot. When two rows are to be planted, the quicks of the 
second row should be placed opposite the spaces and not opposite 
the other plants. When three rows are set out there should 
be two lines stretched, one for each outside row, and the quicks 
in the outside rows should stand opposite the spaces in the middle 
row. When the stems of the quicks are cut off, the line may be 
stretched where the rows are to stand, and a quick placed under 
every knot of the line. If the dirt is not mellow and fine in 
every place, it would be well to have a load hauled by the side 
of the hedge row ; and when one man places the quicks, let 
another man throw a few shovelfuls on the roots. Manure should 
never be applied directly to the roots. A few inches of mellow 
earth should be apphed first^ and then manure, and then more 
dirt, when manure is appHed at transplanting. The quicks should 
never be transplanted, when the soil is too wet to be worked in 
for other purposes, lest it hake around the root. 

269. When the quicks are all transplanted in a workmanlike 
manner, the hedge is by no means finished. Indeed, this is but 
a good beginning. From five to ten years, according to the soil, 
the kind of plants used, the kind of hedge to be made, and the 
training and cultivation it receives, will require strict care and 
protection, to render it an impassable barrier to stock. The first 
thing will be, if it has not already been decided, to determine 



204 ' THE YOUNG farmer's MANUAL. 



1 



what style of hedges shall be adopted, as different styles of 
hedges require very different treatment. 

STYLE OF HEDGES. 

270. Hedges may be made to grow in almost any form desired, 
but it is always best to imitate nature, as far as convenient and 
practicable ; and, especially it is best, when greater efficiency is 
secured by adopting a given style. The tops of all trees and 
plants assume a conical form more than any other, in their natu- 
ral state. If some other form for the tops of trees were more 
desirable, they would unquestionably assume that form. But, 
as a hedge cannot be trained in a conical form, we must adopt 
the style nearest to it, — that of a pyramid. The quicks are trained 
to a single stem, sometimes, for a few feet high, and then the top 
is sheared in the shape of a pyramid. Sometimes two or three 
rows of quicks are transplanted in a hedge row, in which instance 
they are trained to a thick mat, as it were, from the ground, with 
sides perpendicular, sometimes, for a few feet high, and then of a 
pyramidal form ; and sometimes it is trained of a pyramidal 
form from near the ground to the top. Sometimes the sides are 
kept perpendicular, and the top is square across, or flat. But 
this style is considered objectionable by our best hedgers. Some- 
times the hedge is trained or sheared in the shape of a sharp- 
pointed egg, with the point upwards. But whatever style may 
be adopted, 

THE PRUNING AND TRAINING 

271. Must be attended to in a proper season, or one may at 
once abandon the idea of making an impassable barrier for even 
small stock. We must not be afraid to cut off a fine growth of 
sprouts for fear it will require a year longer for them to attain that 
height again. Depend upon it, this is the most important opera- 
tion in rearing hedges. The quicks need to be cut off, time after 
time, in order to give them size and vigor. If they are allowed 
to grow, from year to year, without being cut down, the hedge 
will be thin in places, and the sprouts will be tall, sHm, and easily 
demolished by animals. 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 205 

272. In order to make a thick, impenetrable hedge clear to the 
ground, the quicks standing in three rows, as has been previously 
stated, should all be cut off two or three inches from the ground, 
when they are one or two years old. It is desirable that they 
should be cut off with some instrument which gives a drawing 
cut^ as a crushing cut is very liable to injure the stems. If they 
grow up again very soon, they should be cut off again, the 
same season, in the latter part of July, some five or six inches 
higher than the first cut. At every cutting a thick growth of 
sprouts is produced, which interlace each other so closely that it 
is difficult for a small bird to get through it. If any sprouts 
shoot off laterally several inches beyond the majority of the side 
sprouts, they should be clipped. The sprouts should all be cut 
off at least once every year, six or eight inches higher every 
year, until the hedge is four or five feet high, training the hedge 
in the form of a pyramid. (See Tools for Pruning Hedges, 
Par, 360.) 

273. Another mode of training is, to have but a single row, and 
not cut off the tops until they are all about two feet higli, when 
the limbs are all interlaced with each other, hj hand, and the 
ends of those which grow at right angles to the hedge row are 
sheared off to an even length, making the body of tlie hedge 
from two to three feet through. This interlacing the limbs is 
continued, as the height of the hedge increases from year to 
year, until it is five or six feet high, when the top is simply 
pruned in the form of a pyramid. 

LAYING AND PLASHING. 

274. "The operation consists in first removing the thoins and 
prickles, and cutting away all the needless branches and stems, 
and leaving straight upright stems in the middle of the row. 
The best and straightest of these are left for stakes, and their 
tops are cut off at the height of about four feet. If possible 
these should be at equal distances of about two feet apart ; but 
as they cannot always be had so regularly distributed, stakes 
may be driven in the ground to supply their places. The rough- 




206 THE YOUNG FAEMER's MANUAL. 

est stems are then cut out, and those that are left are bent over 
to an angle of about fortj-five degrees, and a hack is made in 
them near the surface of the ground. Thej are then woven 
backwards and forwards in a slanting direction. When a por- 
tion of the hedge is thus treated, long slender sticks are cut and 
luattled in among the stakes, within an inch or two of the tops, 
by twisting backwards and forwards, and crossing them on alter- 
nate sides of the stakes. The live stakes, in consequence of 
being surrounded by the hedge, are apt to send out shoots thickly 
at the tops^ and not below, unless prevented by being cut half 
through at the ground. Strong leather mittens, with long 
sleeves, are needed by the man who does the work." — Albany 
Cultivator. 

CULTIVATING THE SOIL ALONG HEDGES 

275. Must be thoroughly performed yearly, until the hedge is 
large enough to turn cattle. The soil should be plowed every 
spring, just as if no hedge were there, and some hoed crop planted 
by the sides of it. If corn be planted there, a row of potatoes, 
or carrots, beets, turnips, or the like, should be planted on each 
side of the hedge hetween the corn and it, never nearer to it than 
three feet. Let a horse scarifier be run along the hedge row as 
often as you can find leisure during summer ; and keep the ground 
mellow and level, and free from grass and weeds, during the 
entire growing season. Never allow plants of any kind to cast 
their seed near the hedge row. If weeds or thistles are allowed 
to grow among the quicks, they will soon choke them, and pro- 
duce a thin, weak place in the hedge. If some parts of the hedge 
do not seem to grow as fast as others, give the small parts of 
stinted growth a liberal dressing of well-rotted chip manure, or 
sawdust, or well-prepared compost, and work it in with a hoe. 
If the soil in places seems to be so hard that they do not grow 
as fast as other parts of the hedge, let mellow dirt be spread on 
each side two or three inches deep. There will be a great many 
times during the growing season, when, for an hour or two, and 
perhaps for half a day, the work hands will have nothing which 



THE YOUNG FAEMEU'S MANUAL. 207 

they can do advantageously. Let all such leisure hours be occu- 
pied with a hoe at the hedge. Let the farmer keep an eye on 
the hedge and see that it is not neglected in autumn, and that a 
lot of weeds do not go to seed, so as to keep one weeding for 
seven years. Remember, that 

276. " One year's seeding makes seven years' weeding." 
Never think of making an impenetrable hedge in less than a 
decade of years, when only a little strip two feet wide on each 
side of the hedge is scratched over a little once or twice a year. 
If land is cheap, and it is no object to cultivate a crop by the 
side of a hedge, let the work of cultivating be performed with 
plow, harrow and cultivator, without a crop. Another thing 
which is too commonly neglected is, 

PROTECTING HEDGES FEOM CATTLE, 

277. While they are too small to protect themselves. Young 
steers, especially, and bulls, delight to plunge into a hedge row to 
hook, and horses and sheep like to nip off the tender shoots ; 
and, if it is not protected by a good fence, it is all folly to attempt 
to grow a hedge. Nor should we delay to fence a hedge row 
for the first year or two ; for cattle are very liable at any time to 
get on forbidden ground, when they would quickly make irre- 
parable breaches in it. Should there be no sheep kept on the 
farm, the expense of protecting a hedge would be trifling. A 
fence on each side of it, like Fig. 22, even if the posts were not 
of the most durable timber, would subserve a good purpose until 
the hedge should be strong enough to turn cattle without any pro- 
tection. It is always advisable to keep cattle away from hedges, 
until there can be no risk in permitting them to hook into it to 
their satisfaction. 

REPAIRING HEDGES. 

278. Should a breach be made in a hedge, or should it become 
so thin and weak in places as not to be strong enough to turn 
cattle, if the stems are not healthy, it would be best to remove 
them entirely for a few feet in length, and commence anew with 

9* 



208 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

young quicks ; or, if thought best, the stems should all be cut off 
a few inches from the ground, when new sprouts will spring up, 
which must be treated like a new hedge until the gap is securely 
closed. Wherever thin spots occur in a hedge, it is a pretty 
sure indication that the soil is not as fertile as it should have 
been made previous to transplanting, or that roots of the quicks 
were mutilated, or that they did not have an equal chance with 
the rest of the hedge. 

HEDGES FOR WET GROUNDS. 

279. It is frequently the case, that lands on the borders of 
rivers and lakes, which are liable to inundation in the spring and 
in autumn, are so wet that none but aquatic plants would flourish 
well there. In such localities an impenetrable hedge may be 
made in a very few years with the branches of the yellow willow^ 
or of any other kind of trees the limbs of which will take root 
when stuck in the ground. The limbs should all be cut of a 
uniform length, say five or six feet long, with a saw, as an axe is 
very liable to split and sliver the ends. The upper ends should 
be sawed off slanting, for a slanting cut will heal over more 
readily than a square cut. The lower ends should not be sharp- 
ened by cutting off the wood all around them, because the ends 
will be very apt to rot as far up as the bark is all taken off, and 
sometimes farther, endangering the life of the plants. But the 
sharpening should all be done on one side of the limbs, and then 
roots will start from the ends, and a portion of the lower ends 
wnll not decay. Take the limb in one hand, when it is to be 
sharpened, and set it on a Ijlock, and make a clean slanting cut, 
only on one side. Limbs that are less than two inches in diame- 
ter should not be sharpened at aU, because they will take root 
all round better than if they were sharpened. Let limbs of a 
uniform size be planted together, and never stick small ones and 
large ones indiscriminately together, lest the large ones overgrow 
the small ones. Let all the branches remain on them for inter- 
lacing, except such as grow on the parts which are to be heloiu 
the surface of the soil. 



THE YOrXG FARAIKR'S MANUAL. 209 

280. In sticking them, draw a line and make the holes with a 
crowbar, directly under the line, about ten or twelve inches apart. 
For large limbs let large holes be made, and for small ones do 
not make the holes so large and deep that the limbs will extend 
downward so that the lower ends will all decay. If they are 
planted ten or twelve inches in depth, unless the soil is very deej:), 
they will flourish better than if they were planted twenty or 
more inches deep. Plunge them in the holes to the desired 
depth, with the hands, and never drive them. If, then, any of 
them do not seem to stand sufficiently firm, place a good sod on 
each side of them, and stamp it down well. After the limbs are 
all stuck let the branches on them be interlaced, by commencing 
at the DottOm and weaving them back and forth, forming a kind 
of lattice work. Should the whole seem not to stand very firmly, 
let long slender branches from the trees of some other kind of 
wood, be interwoven at the tops. Such a hedge should be made 
early in the spring in preference to the fall ; and it will require 
shearing at least once a year, to keep it even, and to prevent its 
growing too high. 

WHAT KINDS OF PLANTS ARE USED FOR HEDGES. 

281. "The selection of suitable plants for hedges depends, in a 
very great degree, upon the locality. In some localities one kind 
of plants will flourish very luxuriantly, and make the best of 
hedges, Avhile only a few hundred miles distant from such location, 
that kind of plants will not succeed at all in hedge-making. Some 
species of plants are not at all adapted to the climate where they 
are to be used ; while some others, which flourish well in a given 
climate, are so liable to be attacked by the borer or blight, as to 
be of no value whatever for hedges. The English hawthorn, for 
example, has been found entirely unsuited to most parts of the 
United States.* Some plants do not seem to be hardy enough to 
endure, without injury, the extreme cold of our northern winters ; 
and such plants, although they may have a great reputation for 

* Albany Cultivator 



210 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

making hedges, in some localities, should be tested with caution, 
where any doubts are entertained of their success. 

282. In searching for information in regard to hedges in the 
agricultural journals of the present day, the young farmer will be 
puzzled, beyond measure, to know what to do in regard to mak 
ing a hedge of any kind. One article, penned by a man who 
professes to have been successful in making hedges, will state, in 
most unequivocal language, that "every farmer may raise 
hedges." Another writer, of very reliable authority, will assert, 
with the strongest confidence, that it is hy no means practicable for 
American farmers to make hedges, with a view of enclosing and 
dividing their fields, which shall be cattle proof. One writer will 
recommend a certain plant for hedges, with the most confident as- 
surance that it will ultimately be universally adopted for fencing 
the western prairies, where timber is not abundant, and that such 
a plant succeeds for hedges remarkably well ; while, on the con- 
trary, another man will declare, most positively, that such a plant 
can never make a good hedge ; and that he will defy the world 
to produce a solitary instance where an efficient and impenetrable 
hedge has been made of that kind of plant. Amid such a con- 
flict of opinions, on a subject apparently so full of doubt and un- 
certainty, the farmer must exercise a little good common sense, 
and let the bugbears and sharks go to the winds that brought 
them. 

283. It cannot be denied that there are miles in length of the 
most efficient and impenetrable hedge, in nearly every State in 
the Union, through which an American bison could not pass, and 
which has been produced with but a small degree of expense and 
care. And, if a few enterprising farmers have succeeded in mak- 
ing a good hedge, the arguments and assertions against hedges, 
of a man who has failed to produce a good hedge, from utter neglect, 
or from local causes, should have no influence in deterring the 
young farmer from making a hedge, if he desires one. 



THE YOUNG FAKMER'S MANUAL. 211 



RED CEDAR FOR HEDGES. 

" On barren cliffs, the hardy cedars red, 
Clinging to crevices, lift up their heads." — ^Tupper." 

284. The red cedar is acknowledged, by the most rehable au- 
thority, to be one of the best plants in America, for both orna- 
mental and field hedges. It has more desirable qualities to recom- 
mend it than any other known plant which is used for making 
hedges. If it only hore thorns^ it would be incomparably better 
for hedges than any other plant whose merits have been thor- 
oughly tested as a hedge plant. It is extremely hardy, and 
adapts itself to both barren and fertile soils, although it flourishes 
on a rich soil as much better, as any other plant ; and it attains a 
great age, is as highly ornamental as the most fastidious can desire ; 
and is not liable to blight, or winter-kill, or to be injured by in- 
sects. No other plant bears shearing any better, or with less 
injury, than the cedar ; and a hedge of this kind of plants may 
be sheared into almost any form with great facihty. 

285. The best mode of obtaining the young plants is, to gather 
the berries or seed as late in autumn as possible, before the ground 
freezes, and sow them in drills, covered about one inch deep with 
some very light mellow earth. But few seeds will vegetate the 
first season, but if the soil be kept well cultivated and free from 
noxious weeds during the growing season, the second season they 
will appear in abundance. If the soil be deep, mellow, and rich, 
they will grow from one to two feet in height the first season ; if 
the soil is rather poor, and the little quicks are obliged to grow or 
die among weeds, if they grow six inches high the first season, it 
will be all that can be expected. The plants should be thinned 
out when they stand too thick, and transplanted in rows for a year 
or two. When they are from two to three feet high, they should 
be planted out for hedges, in soil prepared as recommended, as 
early in the spring as it will answer to work in the soil. If they 
are set in only one row, they should be not less than twenty inches 
apart, and if in two rows, two feet apart, with the plants of one row 



212 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

opposite to the spaces of the other row. Let all the limbs on all 
the insides of the trees be interlaced, as neatly as may be ; and 
let the limbs on the sides of the hedge row be sheared to a uniform 
length, from six to twelve inches in length, according to the length 
of the limbs. During the first and second seasons, or perhaps 
longer if necessary, let the tops be sheared of a uniform height. 
As the hedge grows higher, let the inside limbs be interwoven 
from tree to tree, backwards and forwards ; and do not fail to keep 
the soil well cultivated on both sides of the hedge row, for at least 
six or eight feet on each side. If everything is performed in a 
workmanlike manner, a complete lattice-work, impenetrable by any 
domesticated animal, will be formed in a few years. 

286. As the red cedar bears no thorns, and as cattle are so 
much inclined to hook and thrust about in evergreen plants, the 
red cedar may, upon trial, succeed better by training the yoimg 
trees to bare stems about four feet high, and then allow the tops 
to branch out, so as to be sheared in the form of a pyramid, or in 
the shape of an Qgg, with the little end upwards. — (See paragraph 
270.) In this style of training the inside limbs should be in- 
terlaced, from a point two feet above the ground to the top of the 
hedge. 

287, A little skill and judgment, and the exercise of a 
little common sense, are indispensably requisite in prmiing the 
young cedars. If the trees are two or three feet high it will not 
answer to cut off all the limbs the first season, and leave but a 
little bush at the top. The first season that they are transplanted 
in the hedge row, the lower limbs, for about six inches along the 
bottom of the stems, may be cut close with a sharp knife ; and 
if the limbs above this point be more than a foot long, the ends 
may be clipped off to a foot in length on each side. The next 
spring trim off the limbs a few inches higher, close to the stems. 
If the plants have grown six inches or more in height, it may 
answer, if there is an abundance of limbs, to cut off smoothly all 
the limbs for six inches more. The growth of the plants up- 
wards will usually determine how much of the limbs may be cut 
off helow in one season. 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 213 

THE YELLOW AND HONEY LOCUST FOR HEDGES. 

" The fair Queen of Spring, as she passed down the vale, 
Quaffed the nectar of locusts in every mild gale : 
Its fragrance and odor replenished each breeze, 
And lily-white glory environed the trees." — Campbell. 

288. The yellow locust and honey locust are indigenous in the 
United States, and flourish luxuriantly in almost every locality 
where there is not an excess of water in the soil where they are 
planted. They are among the most beautiful ornamental trees, 
and when in full bloom the yellow locust seems most delightful. 
Both of the kinds already mentioned are very hardy and great 
feeders, the roots of the yellow locust growing to an almost in- 
credible length in one season. The honey locust bears bunches 
of long and sharp thorns, from two to three inches in length, 
presenting such an ugly appearance as to deter almost any ani- 
mal, man not excepted, from climbing up into it ; but the thorns 
of the yellow locust are small and short, and deciduous on the 
main stem and limbs of the trees when they are a few years old. 
The honey locust is said to be a very common tree in the forests 
of some of the Western States, and when found on rich bottom 
lands, it attains a growth equal in height to most other trees 
which surround it. The timber of the honey locust is somewhat 
hard, and rather porous, and is sometimes made use of for cabinet 
purposes, and sometimes for posts and rails for building fences. 
The timber of the yellow locust, of thrifty trees, is remarkably 
tough and firm, and durable when exposed to the influences of 
the weather. On account of its excellence in resisting the action 
of moisture, it is used in preference to almost any other timber 
for pins and wedges^ and such like, in ship-building. For fence 
posts it is not inferior in point of durability to white oak, and for 
carriage hubs it is not inferior to the best of birch. In some 
localities the yellow locusts have been entirely destroyed by the 
ravages of the borer and the large green cate'rpillar. But the 
borer seldom attacks any other part of the tree excepting the 
hody, for six or eight feet from the ground. But if the epidermis 
or dead part of the bark be all scraped off or shaved off", to the 



214 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

live bark, once in four or five years, or as often as any signs of 
the borer are discovered, and the bodies of the trees smeared 
with a daubing made of three parts of pitch or rosin, and one 
part of tallow, melted together and applied warm with a brush, 
the borer will be most effectually excluded. 

289. Neither the yellow locust nor honey locust have been 
tested satisfactorily for hedging purposes. It has been used to a 
limited extent in a few instances, and there are at the present 
day many young hedges of both kinds which promise to be in a 
few years most impenetrable barriers against any kind of stock. 
I am able to discover no good reason why the locust may not be 
used most successfully for hedges, with proper treatment and care. 
It grows quickly even on poor soils ; is easily propagated ; bears 
shearing extremely well ; and is very tenacious of life. The 
locust will probably succeed better when planted in a single row 
and plashed, than in two or three rows and trained in a mat 
hedge. The locust flourishes best solitary ; and when the art of 
hedge-making shall arrive to greater perfection, the locust will 
rank among the first plants for hedges. 

290. Both kinds of locust bear seed contained in long pods, 
which may be gathered late in autumn and kept in a dry apart- 
ment until the succeeding spring, when, to insure their vegeta- 
tion, the seed is put in a vessel of some kind and boiling hot 
water poured on them while they are stirred Hvely for a few mo- 
ments, and then allowed to remain in the water for a day and a 
night, when most of them will be swollen to twice their original 
size. All such seed is sure to grow if planted in a soil that will 
produce good corn, and covered about as corn is covered when 
planted. Those seeds which have not swollen during the opera- 
tion should be treated in the same manner the second time. The 
object of scalding the seeds is to soften the hard and tough skin 
which envelops the germ, so that moisture can enter the seed. 
If the seed is planted as soon as it has arrived to maturity early 
in autumn, before the skin on them becomes so dry and tough, 
most of them will vegetate in the succeeding spring, when they 
may be treated as has been recommended. 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 



215 



THE OSAGE ORANGE FOR HEDGES. 

291. The Osage Orange, a cut of which is here shown (taken 
from the Albany Cultivator,^ has been used extensively for 

Fig. 96, 




OSAGE OBAKGE. 



hedges, so that its success is no longer attended with doubt. It 
is found wild in Arkansas, Mexico, Mississippi and some other 



216 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

States, where it grows from twenty to thirty feet high. It flour- 
ishes well in most of the States and Territories, and with proper 
treatment has never failed to make an impenetrable hedge. 
Many failures have been reported respecting the Osage for 
hedges, but in all probability the failures could be traced to 
improper management, such as neglecting to shear down and to 
keep the soil in good condition, or assorting the quicks and trans- 
planting them properly. We need apprehend no failure in mak- 
ing a first-rate hedge of the Osage, if the course is strictly fol- 
lowed which has been marked out in the preceding pages. 

We copy from the American Farmers^ Encyclopedia the follow- 
ing description of the Osage Orange : " It is very branching, 
each branch being armed with numerous sharp thorns. The 
wood is remarkably tough and solid. The male and female 
flowers are on separate trees. The fertile, or female tree, bears 
fruit abundantly in a few years. These are round and rough, 
and greenish colored, resembling somewhat an orange, and weigh- 
ing from twelve to eighteen ounces, containing from one hundred 
to one hundred and fifty seeds." 

292. The best manner for any one to obtain the quicks for 
hedges is, to procure the seed in some locality where the Osage 
flourishes in a wild state, and sow them in autumn in well-pre- 
pared ground. The seed, like many other kinds of seed, will 
vegetate better after having been exposed to the frosts of winter 
in the soil. It is said that there are about eight thousand seeds 
in one quart, and that they may be obtained in Arkansas for the 
mere expense of gathering them. When they are obtained of 
nurserymen the cost is from two to four dollars per quart. It is 
recommended by some farmers to scald the seeds of the Osage in 
the spring, at the time of planting them. Hedges made of the 
Osage Orange require trimming twice a year, and some, who 
have experimented with it extensively, say that three trimmings 
are necessary in one season. The farmer must exercise a little 
judgment with reference to trimming a hedge. Should the 
growth be small, it would not be proper to cut off as much as if 
there were a very great growth. 



THE YOUInTG farmer's MANUAL. 217 



BUCKTHORN FOR HEDGES. 

" What a thorny maze we tread I 
Thorns beneath and overhead I 
How they pierce, and scratch, and tear ! 
Cursed thorns grow everywhere." — Hamlet. 

293. The buckthorn is pronounced by some writers to be the 
most suitable plant for hedges that can be found in the United 
States. It makes an efficient and impenetrable hedge when prop- 
erly treated, and grows very rapidly, is very hardy, and almost 
entirely exempt from disease and from the attacks of insects. 
There are hedges of the buckthorn in some of the older States, 
which have subserved the purpose of an impenetrable fence for 
more than forty years, and are now free from gaps and weak 
places. The buckthorn bears pruning very extensively without 
any apparent injury, and is never injured by the most intense 
cold of winter. It vegetates early in the spring, and does not 
cast off its verdure until late in autumn. 

294. The figure here shown represents a branch of the buck- 
thorn. The seed may be sown early in autumn in mellow soil, 
covered about one inch deep, when most of them will vegetate 
the next spring, if the seed is good. It is best to have at least 
two rows, or three, in a hedge row of buckthorn, and train them 
by shearing down, so that the hedge will be an impenetrable mat 
clear to the ground. 

There are several other kinds of thorns, such as the Washing- 
ton, Newcastle, Hawthorn, and some others, which have been 
used for hedges, and sometimes successfully ; but they are so 
liable to be affected by blight, or insects, or something else which 
is very injurious to them, that it is not safe, except in a few locali- 
ties, to experiment with them. The various kinds of thorn are 
propagated by gathering the haws or seed, and divesting them 
of the skin and pulpy matter, and sowing them in the fall, so 
that they may freeze and thaw during the winter. 



218 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

Fig. 97. 




BTTCKTHOEN. 



RECAPITl-LATION AND GENERAL REMARKS. 

^ 295. After the farmer has fully concluded to raise a hedge, let 
him secure good seed, which is generally distinguished from an 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 219 

inferior quality of seed by its weight. Poor seed is usually 
rather light^ and feels dry to the touch, while good, plump, bright 
and heavy seed seems to be colder^ when handled, than it really is. 
Let all seed that is more than one year old be rejected, and none 
but new seed sown. Bear in mind, that as seed advances in age 
it looses its vitality. Seed is many times injured, and often the 
vitahty is entirely destroyed, in preparing it for use. The pulpy 
matter which encircles the seed is usually removed by placing 
them where they will rot gradually, and afterwards washing the 
pulpy substance from the seed, and then by spreading out the 
seed where they will dry. But they should not be allowed to 
become too dry, as that will injure the germ. If they are per- 
mitted" to lie, while rotting, in piles so large or deep that they 
will heat and mould, the germs of such seed will be liable to be 
destroyed. I must be .'illowed to insist that it is important that 
every farmer grow his own quicks, on soil of about the same 
quality of that where the hedge is to stand. (See Par. 264.) 

296. When the quicks are cut off in autumn it would be 
a good practice to have a vessel of equal parts of melted pitch or 
rosin, and tallow, and smear the ends with it, applied with a paint 
brush. The most expeditious mode of doing it would be, to hold 
as many in one hand as is convenient, and then apply the brush. 
Even after the quicks have been transplanted, a man with a small 
brush would smear the ends of a long row in a few hours. It 
would not be practicable to perform such an operation after the 
first shearing, or cutting down, on account of the great number 
of stubs, although such an application wiU be found very useful 
in preventing the stumps from drying and cracking, to the injury 
of the quicks. Any instrument, in pruning, shearing, or slashing, 
which cuts the stems square off, with a crushing instead of a 
drawing stroke or cut, is quite apt to shiver the butts or stumps 
of the quicks, so that they will not heal as readily as if they had 
been cut with a slanting and drawing cut. (See Par. 543.) 

297. On the subject of pruning, too much care cannot be taken, 
for rules and practices which would be all-important for raising 
an efficient hedge in one locality, would be very deleterious to a 



220 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

hedge in another region. In some regions the sprouts cf the 
Osage Orange grow so rapidly as to attain the height of four to 
seven feet in one season, while in other places they would not 
grow as many inches. Where they grow so rapidly the roots 
become proportionably strong, and shearing must be resorted to. 
But when the growth is very small, and the stems slender and 
weakly, it might be the wisest policy to allow them to grow un- 
molested for one season. It is not easy for one to tell, with pen 
and ink alone, whether a hedge should or should not be cut down 
at a certain stage of its growth. Sometimes it might be very 
advisable to trim or shear a hedge twice in one season ; but the 
probability is, that in our climate it is best to clip but once a 
year, and the best and most natural season for this operation 
would seem to be in the spring. I know many recommend late 
autumn, and others the month of July, for this purpose, as being 
the best, but it appears to me that unless the ends of the quicks 
are smeared with something to prevent the weather from drying 
them, it would be best to do it in the spring, about the time the 
buds begin to enlarge a little. If some of the quicks grow too 
rapidly during the summer, the top ends may be pinched off a lit- 
tle. This will check the tendency to shoot upward tall and 
slim, and will tend to enlarge the stem and side branches. If it 
is desirable to have limbs clear to the ground, the side branches 
should not be clipped until they have grown, laterally, not less 
than two feet on each side of the row. In order to have the 
branches low, the quicks must be clipped near the ground the 
first time they are cut off. If they are clipped high the first time, 
it will be impossible to produce limbs near the ground, unless the 
whole top is cut down, when, if the roots are strong and healthy, 
many sprouts will start from the stumps, both upward and hori- 
zontally. (See Par. 301, 302.) 

298. Hedges oftener prove a failure in consequence of neglect 
than from any other cause. Hedges cannot grow, they will not 
grow weU among weeds and grass, and those who expect them 
to flourish will be most certainly disappointed. The soil on each 
side must be kept loose, mellow and clean, for at least half a rod 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 221 

from the hedge row. When only a narrow strip of two feet or 
so on each side is scratched over occasionally, it would be no 
more beneficial, in many localities, than if the soil were not 
broken at all. On prairies and bottom lands, where the soil is 
deep, always mellow, and fertile, preparing the soil as recom- 
mended in paragraph 261 is not so very important as on stub- 
born, clayey and calcareous soils, in which localities the direction!^ 
should be followed up to the very letter. 

299. I have never, as yet, met with any writings in which it 
was recommended to transplant the quicks as suggested in par. 
268. The more usual practice is to dihhle them in with a kind 
of paddle, or to thrust in a spade where a quick is to be set, and, 
thrusting the handle forward, the quick is set heliind the spade in 
a wedge-shaped hole, without any spreading of the roots. But 
it seems to me that, if it would pay in transplanting fruit-trees, 
which none will deny, to spread out the roots, it would be time 
profitably spent in transplanting the quicks for a hedge in the 
most workmanlike manner. According to the modus operandi 
in par. 268, a long line of hedge could be put out in a day by a 
faithful laborer and a small lad ; and in such soil as we find, for 
the most part, in central and western New York, and in some 
of the New England States, no one who is acquainted with 
their character, and with the most proper manner of working 
them, will wish to deny that this is the better mode of trans- 
planting the quicks. It is most certain that the more the roots 
of a tree or quick are spread out, in transplanting, the better 
the tree is transplanted ; and the more they are crowded into 
a small compass, the less liable they are to flourish luxuriantly 
for the first year or two after transplanting. If a quick has 
side-roots, nature and common sense teach us that it is better 
to spread them and extend them in their full length, than to 
double them and crowd them into a small hole. 

300. The proper distances apart for plants to be set, is a very 
important question in growing a good hedge. For my own part, 
I am fully persuaded that hedgers, as a general rule, plant too 
close. It is a most common fault, in transplanting all kinds of 



222 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

fruit-trees, to plant too close together ; and, although very close 
planting is recommended, on good authority, for hedges, it is 
my candid conviction that if those hedgers who advocate and 
adhere to very close planting, and who succeed well in raising- 
efficient hedges when planted very close together, would plant 
the quicks farther apart, they would meet with still better suc- 
cess than they do in very close planting. No one will deny 
that quicks for hedges may be planted too closely together, and 
we all acknowledge, without any argument, that it is not diffi- 
cult, in the least, to plant them too far apart. Now, then, if 
there is a point beyond which, in one direction, it may be said 
the quicks are too near together, and, in the opposite direction, 
they are too far apart, that is the point which will determine 
most accurately the most proper distance apart for transplant- 
ing the quicks, in order to make the best and most efficient 
hedge. The distance that might properly be called close plant- 
ing when one kind of plants is used, might not be said to be 
too close for another plant. The kind of plants used always 
should, in a great measure, determine the proper distance for the 
plants to be set apart. We consider eight inches apart too close 
for any plants, and for any style of hedge, although some hedgers 
advocate a distance of only four and six inches apart. But 
when plants are set so very close together, the shoots are very 
apt to be small and slender, with not sufficient space for the lat- 
eral branches to attain suitable size for consistent strength ; and, 
more than all else beside, when they are crowded so closely 
together they are quite liable to die, in consequence of being de- 
prived, by those on each side of them, of their necessary nourish- 
ment at the roots. We consider one foot sufficiently close .for 
any plants in a hedge row, and for some plants one foot apart is 
just twice as close as they should be. When plants are set 
closer than one foot, or even one foot and a half, let a few plants 
be placed in a row at such distances apart, and see how little 
space they have for branching out. Look, for example, at the 
sprouts around stumps which stand very close to each other. 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 223 

They are tall, slim, and not half as strong as they would be if 
they were not half as numerous ; and, more than all else, their 
lateral branches, if there are any at all, are very slender, and will 
very soon decay ; whereas, if the plants stood twenty or thirty 
inches apart, the lateral branches — which give the greatest 
efficiency to a hedge — will be large, strong, and not liable to pre- 
mature decay, as in close planting. It is better to have one 
strong, healthy, lateral branch, than three, or even four branches 
in the same space, which are slender and liable to decay in con- 
sequence of close planting. Strong, stiff, lateral branches, with 
the ends clipped off, and having thorns on their sides, are very 
repulsive things for stock of any kind to plunge into. But when 
all the sprouts grow erect and slender and smooth, bullocks with 
very long horns will delight in the fun of thrashing them to the 
ground. Any one who is well acquainted with the habits of the 
red cedar, or the hemlock, or American arbor vitse, will, I doubt 
not, fully coincide with me, that when planted very close to- 
gether they could not be relied upon for making an efficient and 
impassable hedge ; but if transplanted at about thirty inches 
apart, they will make, in some localities, a more efficient and 
impassable and durable hedge than any other plant which has 
as yet been successfully cultivated for hedges. Of these three 
plants last mentioned, the red cedar is most preferable. The 
honey locust, the yellow locust, the Osage orange, and, in fact, 
almost every other plant which has been and is now cultivated 
for hedges, will flourish best when standing nearly or quite soli- 
tary. Therefore, to close this subject, we lay it down as our can- 
did conviction, that all the plants just mentioned will flourish 
better, be more durable, be stronger, less liable to premature de- 
caj^ be trained with less difficulty, make an impassable fence 
sooner, be kept within the desired limits assigned for the width 
and height of the hedge, after the hedge is completed, and be 
grown at a much less expense, and by laborers possessing infe- 
rior skill in the business of hedging, when the plants are set from 
sixteen to twenty inches apart^ in some instances thirty inches^ 
than if they were set from six to twelve inches apart. I have 
10 



224 THE YOUNG FAEMER's MANUAL. 

planted some red cedars for a hedge fence, and I place them 
thirty inches apart, believing that at that distance they will make 
a better hedge than if set any closer to each other. 



PHILOSOPHY OF PRUNING. 

301. Why do we prune trees and plants? Trees and plants 
are pruned for several reasons. They are pruned sometimes for 
the purpose of removing the dead branches, and sometimes to 
make a tree grow higher, and sometimes to make it grow hroader 
and lower ; and sometimes for the purpose of making the fruit 
grow larger and fairer, by removing the redundant branches. If 
the ends of all the limbs of a tree should be clipped off two or 
three times during the growing season, and they were not allowed 
to grow only so high and so far laterally, a tree would soon send 
out sprouts or suckers all over the limbs, and in a few years a 
tree would be a complete mat of brush. If all the topmost 
branches are clipped off about as fast as the ends grow, the greatest 
part of the sap will be driven or thrown into the lateral branches, 
and they will shoot off horizontally with great rapidity. On the 
contrary, if one bud or stem is allowed to shoot up in the centre of 
the top, and all the others are kept back by clipping off the ends 
as fast as they grow, there will be an unusual amount of sap flow- 
ing to this centre stem, and it will run up tall and slim. When 
young fruit-trees are inclined to grow slim and tall, we clip off 
the top buds, which will throw the sap into the lateral branches, 
and the trees will begin to thicken. Although pruning fruit- 
trees is not intimately connected with the subject of this section, 
still I cannot forbear to notice, briefly, some things connected with 
jDruning trees. — (See Figs. 125 and 150, Tools for Pruning.) 

302. In forming a head to young fruit-trees, the young farmer 
should aim to have one stem run up in the centre of the tree, and 
then a system of two or three or four limbs extending horizontally 
from the upright stem, about thirty or forty inches apart^ clear to 
the top of the tree. The first system of branches should be about 
five or six feet from the ground. If they should be inclined to 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 225 

sag down too much, thej miglit be well shored up, or tied up with 
wires extending from the top of the tree to them, during the 
growing season, when thej would probably remain in that posi- 
tion. 

303. It is bad policy to allow trees to grow at random for a 
number of years, and then give them a severe pruning. It in- 
jures a fruit-tree to cut off a large limb as much as it hurts a man 
to have a limb amputated. Fruit-trees should always be pruned 
so that a man can easily get around in the tops of them, without 
the assistance of a ladder. Small branches should be left all along 
large limbs, so that a person may go on them when plucking fruit. 
Many people have clipped off all the branches on the large limbs 
of their apple-trees, so that nothing but a bare limb is left for ten 
or fourteen feet, with the fruit branches all at the ends of the 
limbs. This is a very objectionable manner of pruning. The 
heads or tops of fruit-trees should always be formed as low as 
will be practicable, and not be too inconvenient getting around 
beneath the lowest limbs. It will be far better to have the 
branches low, than it is to prune them so that a man will need a 
sixteen feet ladder to get on the limbs. The higher the trees are, 
the more, by a great deal, will fruit be injured when it falls to 
the ground, when it falls on any hard substance or against 
each other. "When trees are low, they will produce quite as 
much, and even more fruit than they would if the same tops were 
elevated on long limbs sixteen feet higher. When they are very 
high, much more of the fruit is blown off by high winds, some- 
times before it is ripe ; and a greater portion of it cannot be 
plucked when the trees are high ; whereas, if the trees were low^ 
almost every apple could be plucked. 

304. Many good orchards have been almost ruined by employ- 
ing a raw " bushwhacker" to prune their fruit-trees, who knew no 
more about the correct principles, according to which fruit-trees 
should be pruned, than the skillful paddy did whom a certain 
farmer employed to prune his young orchard, who, on being 
asked at noon liow his pruning progressed, replied, ^'■And I have 
pruned none at all yet^ hut have cut them all doiony Get J. J. 



226 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

Thomas' Fruit Culturist, and learn to prune according to the most 
approved principles. 

305. As soon as a tree has been pruned — the limbs having 
been cut off smoothly — a little kettle of liquid grafting cement 
should be at hand, and with a brush every wound that is as large 
as a man's thumb should be smeared, and a piece of coarse paper 
put over it before it becomes hard, and pressed into the wax. 
Have a little basket with square pieces of paper in it ; and if the 
paper is a little larger than the wound, it will do no harm, for 
the rain and wind will soon carry away all that does not adhere 
to the wax. I have and do now practise these directions. 



THE HEDGE COMPLETE. 

306. " The following figure will give the young hedger the most 
approved manner of pruning a hedge, which is made to assume 
the form of a Gothic arch, as shown by the curved lines o n and 
m, the apex of the hedge. The dotted line c represents the 
point where the hedge should be clipped the first season, if it is 
large enough. The dotted line d shows the place for the second 
chpping ; e is the third clipping, h the fourth clipping, and o the 
hedge complete."* 

307. Since penning the preceding thoughts on hedges, I liavc 
read " Warder's Hedges and Evergreens," a most useful treatise 
for every one who ever contemplates raising ten rods of hedge, 
"When I penned this article on hedges, I did not know that sucli 
a book was in existence, and am much gratified to learn that our 
views on the subjects connected with hedging should coincide so 
well, especially in regard to the distance apart at which the quicks 
should be set. I have to acknowledge, with gratitude, my in- 
debtedness to the Country Gentleman and Albany Cultivator^ 
published by Luther Tucker & Son, for some of the ideas in com- 
posing this Section. When anything has been copied, due credit 
has been given. 

* Dr. Warder's Hedges and Evergreens, price one dollar. > 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 



227 




CHAPTER in. 

THE PRINCIPAL TOOLS FOR FENCING. 

The fencer comes, in order well arrayed, 

His little kit, and saw, with glittering blade, 

With piercing crowbar, spade and spud and rammer, 

With plumb -rule, line, and auger, axe and hammer. 

Not strewn in wild confusion in the track. 

But neat and clean, supported on the rack. 

308. It is a trite but usually true maxim, that "a workman 
is known bj tbe chips lie makes and by tbe tools lie uses. A. 
good workman, as a general rule, vnW. not work with poor and 
awkward tools, because it is bad policy. He knows that with 
poor tools, he is required to exert much more physical strength in 
doing a given job ; and that he makes little progress, and many 
times cannot do a piece of work in any other than a very inefS- 
cient manner. Some men always use poor tools. A good tool 
of any kind, with them, is the exception and not the rule ; and if 
they chance to get a good tool, it is of short duration, for it is 
soon broken or stove up, or injured in some manner, so that it is 
a poor one. On the contrary, other men will always keep their 
tools good until they are worn out ; and one will seldom find a 
poor tool in their possession. Good tools, many times, cost no 
more than poor ones, in dollars and cents ; and the loss sustained 
by using poor tools would often amount to more than enough, in 
dollars and cents, to purchase good ones. It will not be denied 
by the great majority of workmen, that a laborer will be able to 
do twice as much in a given period of time, with less force and 
fatigue to his powers, with a good tool than with a poor one ; and 
many times the difference is even four or Jive times in favor of good 
tools. The best of tools are often rendered no better than very 
(228) 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 229 

poor ones, by neglecting to keep them in good order ; and they 
are often allowed to be used in that unworkmanlike condition, 
because those who use them do not know how to keep them in 
good order. And good tools are often very much damaged by- 
neglecting to take care of, and keep them fr( tn the influence of 
the weather. This leads me to speak of 

THE USE AND CARE OF TOOLS. 

309. It is not always those who break and wear out the great- 
est number of tools who perform the most labor, but the opposite 
of this ; for those who are in the habit of damaging, staving up 
and breaking the most tools, are usually those who do a very 
limited portion of labor. One-half of the laborers — yes, moi-e 
than that proportion — do not seem to think but that they may 
pry and lift with a spade, shovel, or hoe-handle, as they would 
with a crowbar or handspike. For this reason, the handles of 
both spades and shovels become so badly sprung, if they are not 
broken, as to render them very inefficient, and almost worthless. 
The beginner should learn to exercise a little judgment in regard 
to the strength of the materials of which tools are made, and to 
protect them from the injurious influences of wet and dry weather, 
which will rust, warp, distort and rot them, to their injury more 
than all the wear of them when in actual service. 

THE FENCE TOOL-RACK. 

310. When laborers are digging post holes, it becomes neces- 
sary to use several difierent tools, at various times, in digging 
one hole, and when there is nothing to lean them against, a work- 
man will spend a portion of his time in picking up his tools and 
changing them ; and in some places, where the surface of the 
ground is covered with mud and water, tools will be falling into 
the mud, and then a laborer must spend time to wipe off the 
mud. All these little points of time will soon consume enough 
to dig a hole or two. A workman needs all his tools close hy his 
sidcj where he can lay his hand on them without steppmg away 
from his work. To aid him in having his tools all at hand, and 
for keeping them out of the mud, a tool-rack, Fig. 98, is a very 



230 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 



important implement in fence building. It should be made very 
light, so that one will not dread to move it when necessary. 

Fig. 98. 




TOOL-BACK. 



^ is a piece of scantling, two inches square and two feet long ; 
Z» is a light board, one foot wide and two feet long, screwed to 
the sills ; c c are standards, round, two feet long and one inch in 
diameter ; D D are guard-pins, one foot long and one inch in 
diameter, for keeping the tools, as they stand on the platform J, 
from falling on the ground. On this platform should be kept the 
shovel and spade, the auger and spud, the crowbar and spoon, 
and the rammer, and then no time will be spent in picking them 
out of the mud ; and it should be borne in mind, that this little 
light bench is not strong enough to be used as a heavy saw 
bench. 

THE POST-HOLE AUGER. 

A Post-hole Auger here we view, 
Without a pod, or worm, or screw. 

See Augers, Par. 588. 

311. Fig. 99 is an illustration of a dirt auger, which is a 
very useful tool in digging ordinary holes for fence ; and when 
the stones are all so small that they will pass between the 
Hps, a workman can bore a hole three times quicker than he 
can dig it with other tools. When the ground is very wet, 
one can make a hole three feet deep in less than five minutes, 
should the auger not hit any stone. When there are many 
stones, they must be taken out by hand. But few men know 
how to use such an auger. Many will insist upon having a large 
acrew on the end, to draw it into the ground ; but such a thing 



THE YOUNG FARMEK'S MANUAL. 



281 



would be Impracticable, because tbe threads of a screw would 
immediately clog with dirt, and be worse than a small plain 

Fig. 99. 




IHB POST-HOLE ATTGEK. 



point, such as they should always be made with. In using such 

an auger, dig a foot or so with the spade, and then with the 

crowbar make a hole six or eight inches deep for the point of the 

auger to turn in, if the ground is hard. "When the ground is soft, 

a hole made with a crowbar will not be necessary. Bore in six 

inches, and with the rammer pack the dirt a little on the auger, 

so that when it is hfted out it will bring all the dirt with it. In 

dry dirt, if it is not rammed a little on the auger it will faU back 

into the hole when the auger is taken out. Make a hole with 

crowbar again and bore as before. Have a little paddle at hand 

to clean off the auger when the dirt adheres to it. Never strike 

an auger on a stone for the purpose of knocking off the dirt. It 

should be kept so bright that dirt wiU seldom stick to the lips. 

Bear in mind, that a post auger is not a crowbar nor. a sledge^ and 

when made as light as it ought to be it can be easily broken. 

"When the lips hit a stone in boring, let the auger be taken out, 

and pry out the stone with the crowbar. 
10* 



232 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

312. Description. — a is the handle, two feet long, which passes 
through an eye in the shank 5, which shank is made of three- 
quarter-inch round iron, about three feet long, screwed into 
the socket of the auger, c c are the cutters or lips, which are all 
lips and point, which point cannot be seen, cast in one piece. 
The lips at d are from one and a half to two inches apart, accord- 
ing to the size of the auger, although two inches is large enough 
in the widest place. The lips should not be more than one- 
fourth of an inch in thickness, tapering to the edges, which should 
be cAz7^ec? when they are cast (see paragraph 312). The point 
should not be more than two inches in diameter, terminating 
with a point about three or four inches long, made of a true, 
round taper. As such augers are seldom kept on hand, and 
where they are kept for sale the price is from $3 to $4, the 
farmer can employ an experienced pattern-maker to make the 
pattern, and he can get such an auger fitted up at a machine- 
shop for about $1 50, handle and all. Treman Brothers, of 
Ithaca, sell them, ready for use, at $1 25. The whole of the 
boring portion should be kept as bright and smooth as a plow, 
and never allowed to become rusty. When not in use it should 
be washed and wiped clean and dry, and kept where it will not 
rust, because if it becomes rusty it will not work well, any more 
than a plow that is not scoured so bright that the dirt will shp in 
plowing. 

THE SPUD. 

313. For digging post holes, a spud. Fig. 100, is frequently 
the most convenient and efficient tool that can be used. Where 

Fig. 100. 



there are but few stones, and the earth is too hard to spade it 
up, a spud is very useful. In digging holes twice as large as the 
dirt auger will bore, the spud is brought into use, and with it the 
sides of the holes are cut down and dressed twice as quick, and 



THE YOUNG FAKMER's MANUAL. 233 

twice as easy, as it could be done with spade or crowbar. For 
digging up tbe earth in the bottom of post holes, when no dirt 
auger is used, a spud is far better than a crowbar. Any good 
blacksmith can make a spud, and the cost will be from $1 50 to 
$2 50, according to the size and weight of it. 

314. Description. — a is the blade, from two and a half to three 
inches wide, and about half an inch thick and a foot long, and of 
the best of iron, and the edge or lower end of the blade, for two 
or three inches, all steel, properly tempered for cutting stone and 
gravel. The edge is bevelled from both sides like a crowbar. 
h is the socket, large enough to receive a h-andle two inches in 
diameter, and not less than four inches deep. The handle c 
should be round and tapering, and made of the firmest and tough- 
est timber. If it is two inches in diameter at the socket, it will 
be of a fair proportion if it is made of a true taper to the 
upper end, which should be about one inch and an eighth in 
diameter. The whole tool is about six feet in length. Re- 
member that a spud is not made to ^jr^ or lift with, like a 
handspike, but to cleave off the dirt, and to dig it up, so that 
it can be taken out of the holes with the dirt spoon. Let 
the edge be made as thin as will be consistent with sufficient 
strength. If it is too thin it will soon break or bend. 

THE RAMMER. 

315. The rammer (Fig. 101) is used for packing the earth 
firmly around posts. In using it workmen are too apt to 

Fig. 101. 



THE KAMMEK. 

pack the dirt close around the posts and leave much of it 
untouched with the rammer. The dirt should be well rammed 
from the post to every side of the hole. The rammer shoult^ 
be about five feet in length. The large part of it sliould be 
about four inches in diameter and twenty inches long, and the 



234 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

lower end mounted with an iron plate over the end, and a 
good band around it to keep it from splitting. It should be 
made of heavy, durable wood. The upper end of the knob 
need not be but one inch in diameter. Rammers are often 
made by boring a hole in a piece of scantling, and putting in a 
handle. But a turned one is a little neater. A handle may 
be turned of the proper size, and driven firmly in the head, 
after which the head may be turned. Recollect that a rammer 
is not a tool to pry with, nor to strike sideways with. 

THE CKOWBAR. 

" Behold here the crowbar, a lever for prying 
And lifting stone, standing or lying." — Edwards. 

316. Here we have something that you do not break and 
stave up without some extra exertion. This is not a shovel I lift 
Fig 102 "^^^^^ ^^ ^^ heavily as you please ! It is not a spade ! 
pry with it till you are tired ! It is not an axe-helve, 
nor fork-handle ! And now, friend, you who are 
always breaking and staving up tools that were never 
designed to pry with, when you have anything to pry, 
get the crowbar. A crowbar is a very useful tool, and 
its efficiency depends, in a great measure, on its form 
and size. For ordinary purposes on the farm, a crow- 
bar of the following dimensions is of a fair proportion 
and good form and size, and as small as one ought to be. 
For handling heavy stone, crowbars may be heavier 
than this, but never lighter. It is better, for gene- 
ral purposes, to have the basil from a to the edge 
tapering like a wedge, instead of being pointed. 
From a to the edge, four inches, made of steel, and 
■ tempered as hard as it can well be and not break 
when punching on stone. From a to Z> eight inches, 
. and one inch and three-eighths square. From h to the 
upper end, which is about one inch in diameter, round^ 
it should be of a true taper. From 5 to c it is twenty 
BAB. inches, with the corners hammered, as in the figure. 



SI 



20 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 235 

From c to the end, thirty to thirty-four inches, round and smooth. 
The upper end should be laid with steel, so that it will not 
become battered up in hammering or driving stone with it. Let 
the edge of the crowbar be kept sharp, and it will not be difficult 
to work a hole in almost any soil. 

317. The most efficient and proper manner of using a crowbar 
when making holes in the ground is, to clasp it with both hands 
close together, when it stands perpendicularly before the work- 
man, with the hands about as high as the elbows, and then lift it 
perpendicularly, and plunge it down perpendicularly. By hand- 
ling it in this way, it is easy to thrust it straight in a hole at 
every thrust. But when a man attempts to make a hole by tak- 
ing hold of the crowbar as he would take hold of a pitchfork or 
spade, he finds it very difficult to thrust twice in one place. In 
digging up the earth in the bottom of a post hole with a crow- 
bar or spud, first make a hole three or four inches deep in the 
centre of the post hole, and then thrust in the bar about three 
inches from this hole, and pry the dirt towards the centre of the 
post hole. Let the dirt be loosened all over the bottom of the 
hole, and then take it out with 

THE DIRT-SPOON. 

" There is a choice in spoons." — Barlow. 

318. A dirt-spoon (Fig. 103) is not calculated to shovel dirt, 
nor to spade with ; its office is to scoop out the loose dirt in dig- 

FiG. 103. 




THE DrET-SPOOK, 



ging post holes. It is better for such a purpose than a spade, or 
any kind of shovel, because it is not so pointed as some shovels, 
and has a deeper bowl, like a scoop shovel. They are seldom 
made to hang correctly, and the bowl is usually too long to do 



236 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

good work. The bowl is frequently made in a straight line with 
the handle, whereas, there should be so much hang to it t^hat 
when it is full of dirt there will be no tendency to turn over in 
the hands of the workman. (See Shovels, paragraph 323.) 
There should be so much hang (see Hang, in the next vol.) 
or crook to it that, in filling it with dirt, it must be carried to 
the opposite side of the post hole from where the digger is 
standing, and then crowded down into the dirt, not by thrust- 
ing, but by the weight of the operator, and as it enters the 
dirt it should be carried back to the other side of the hole. 
Fig. 104 represents a side view of the dirt-spoon, by whicli it 

Fig. 104. 



SIDE VIEW OF DIBT-SPOON 

will be seen what is about the correct shape for the bowl, and 
crook of the handle. Our old-fashioned ladles for scooping 
boiled beans from the dinner-pot come nearer to a dirt-spoon 
than any other implement, and when a ladle hangs cor- 
rectly for dipping beans out of a dinner pot, it may be used 
as a model for making a post- or dirt-spoon. The handle of 
the dirt-spoon may be of wood, and bent like a shovel- 
handle ; or the spoon may have an iron shank, a foot or so in 
length, bent in proper shape, like Fig. 104. Let the bowl be 
kept bright, so that dirt will not adhere to it, and clean it with a 
little paddle, instead of striking it on a stone or block to knock 
the dirt off. "When it is struck on a stone to clean the dirt off, 
the edges will soon become all stove up, and the dirt wiU not 
slip off readily. 

THE PLUMB RULE. 

<* From the zenith above to the nadir below, 
A plumb in a vertical line will go." — Gkay. 

319. The plumb rule, Fig. 105, i>! made of a strip of board 



THE YOUNG FARMER S MANUAL. 



237 



about four feet long and three inches wide, and scalloped or forked 
at the bottom, as in the figure, so that it may rest on the points, 
while the plumb c swings freelj. The rule must be planed as 
straight as can be with the jointer, with the edges parallel, and 

Fig. 105. 




PLUMB KFLE. 



a mark made with the gauge along the centre, as at the dotted 
line a ; 5 is a screw to which the plumb line d is attached ; c is 
the plumb, made of lead, about two inches long and one inch in 
diameter. To make a plumb, bore a smooth hole in a hard stick 
of wood, and fill it with melted lead ; as soon as the lead is 
poured in, hold a little wire staple in the melted lead, with the 
pinchers, until the lead becomes sohd. Split the stick, and attach 
the plumb by the staple, to a piece of small cord d. Place the 
edge of the rule against the side of a post, and if it is plumh the 
cord will hang exactly over the dotted line a. Such a rule is 
usually quite as convenient as a spirit level and plumh, which 
will cost ten times more ; and it is often far more correct, and will 
show any slight variation with more accuracy than many spirit 
rules. 



238 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 



Fig. 106, 107. 




THE SPADE. 

" Hurrah for the spade, and a workman to use it I 
It turns the black glebe into bright shining gold 1 
What could our fathers have done, boys, without it, 
When the fields lay all bare and the zephyrs blew cold ?" — Dwight. 

320. Fig. 106 represents a good spade, in one sense, but be- 
cause it hangs so awkwardly it is worthless. 
It would be almost impossible to spade with 
such a tool, because there is no hang to it. 
The names of the principal parts of the 
spade are, &, the handle, a, the hilt, c, the 
stamp or shoulder, c?, the blade. Fig. 107 
shows a side view of a well-hung spade. 
It will be discovered that a line cutting the 
middle of the straight portion of the handle 
will strike the edge of the blade, as shown 
by the dotted line, and the upper end of the 
blade should set hack of this line about two 
inches, in a spade about a foot long. When 
the blade hangs in such a position that a 
line cutting the centre of it would be par- 
allel with a line cutting the straight part of 
the handle, (see Fig. 108, of Shovels,) it 
will not work easily, because the laborer 
win be oblio^ed to make an extra effort to 
prevent a spadeful from shpping off the end 
of the blade. When a spade has as much 
hang as a well hung shovel, a spader is obliged to reach for- 
ward with the handle so far that the motion is awkward, ineffi- 
cient, and not easy. But when a spade has about as much 
hang as is shown at Fig. 107, a workman is not obliged to use 
up any of his energies in an inefficient manner. It is much 
better to have a spade-handle entirely straight, without any 
hang at all in a spade, than to have the edge and the blade 
stand at such an angle as is represented by Fig. 106. A spade 




SFADB. 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 239 

with a handle entirely straight, and straight with the blade, is 
not an awkward tool to spade with until one attempts to lift a 
spadeful, then we shall see distinctly the necessity of having a 
spade hung in the most proper manner. Manufacturers would 
do well to make two kinds of spades, one kind very neat and 
light, but sufficiently strong for skillful laborers, and another kind 
unnecessarily heavy and clumsy, for the special benefit of those 
btupid dolts who use a spade as if it were a crowbar, and who 
cannot use a spade a half day without bending the blade, or 
breaking or springing the handle, or staving it up into some unde 
sirable shape. 

321. In using a spade, especially in spading sod, the operator 
should* always remember to cut a spadeful loose on both sides 
before it is thrust in to take up a spadeful. When a spade is 
thrust in its whole length into hard soil, and the force of a laborer 
applied to the handle to loosen the spadeful as if it were a lever, 
if it is not made too heavy and clumsy for a skillful laborer, it 
must Ireak or hend^ so as to be unfit for use. In spading we can- 
not avail ourselves of any advantage by resting the handle across 
one knee, as in shovelling ; therefore a spade should not be one 
ounce heavier than is necessary for consistent strength. The 
blade should be made of steel, because a steel blade is much 
stiflfer than an iron blade of the same thickness. A man whose 
mind is enlightened with a knowledge of mechanical principles, 
will never bend nor break a spade ; his keen perception will tell 
him, even if he were blindfolded, when the strength of the spade 
is unequal to the force applied to the handle. 

322. In spading the soil in gardens, when a plow is not used, 
the laborer takes a spade-slice six or eight inches wide and spades 
clear across a given plot of ground, leaving a furrow about half 
as wide as the farrow made by a plow. The narrower the spade- 
shces are the more completely the soil will be pulverized. When 
manure is worked into the soil in spading, it should be spread in 
the furrow, and every spadeful turned upside down on the top of 
it ; and if the dirt does not all fall to pieces, a thrust or two witli 
the edge will pulverize it sufficiently for raking. When spading 



240 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

soil of a clayey or adhesive character, after the spade has been 
thrust in, instead of prying the spadeful loose by prying down on 
the handle, the laborer should thrust the handle from him, forward^ 
so as to loosen the spadeful. This operation will not require 
half the force for spading that is necessary where the spading is 
all done by prying down on the handle to loosen the spadeful. 
A skillful spader will wear out his spade ; but an awkward Jona- 
than wiU Ireak and stave up twice as many spades, and will not 
perform half the amount of labor, as he who handles a spade with 
a little skill. In spading in ditches where the soil is quite wet, 
ninety-nine diggers in one hundred will put their whole weight 
on a spade-handle in order to pry a spadeful loose ; whereas, if 
they would loosen it by thrusting the handle forward^ it would 
not require one-fourth the strength, and it would be loosened in 
less than half the time. By prying down on the handle to loosen 
a spadeful where there is water, a spadeful is not easily pryed 
loose, because in separating the spadeful from the unbroken 
ground there is a tendency to form a vdcuum ; but by thrusting 
the handle forward enough to loosen the spadeful, air and water 
will find their way behind the spadeful, and it may be easily 
lifted from its place with the spade. Remember, that a spade is 
neither a crowbar nor handspike. If the edge and blade of a 
spade are made of steel, as they should be, and pohshed on the 
grindstone, and the edge ground up sharp, if the edge has a good 
temper, so hard that it will not batter when it touches stone, nor 
break when thrust on a flint, it will not require much force to 
drive in the spade when spading. But when the edge is all bat- 
tered up, and towards one-fourth of an inch thick, spading is a 
very laborious operation. A good steel spade should never be 
allowed to become rusty, nor to be exposed to heavy rains, as 
bent handles in spades are quite apt to spring straight when left 
in wet places. A few drops of oil will keep the blade from rust- 
ing, and it will not require half as much time to clean a spade 
and oil it and put it under cover as it will to scour it fit for use 
after it has become rusty. If the edge of a steel spade is too soft, 
it may easily be tempered again as hard as may be desired, by 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 241 

heating about two inches of the edge. (See Tempering Tools, 
532.) 

SHOVELS. 

" give me a shovel ! There's magic about it ! 
And the laborer skilled will teach us to use it." — Edwards. 

323. The great excellency and efficiency of shovels, and the 
ease with which they may be handled, depend almost entirely on 
the correct hang of the handles and blades. If a shovel or spade 
be made of the very best materials, and is defective in the hang 
of the Made and handle, it is a poor tool; and the intelligent 
farmer would find it for his interest to dispose of such tools to 
those who seem to contend that a laborer can perform just as 
much work with a tool having a straight handle as with a tool 
correctly hung, providing he is only accustomed to using such tools. 
Shovelling dirt, or manure, or anything else, is very laborious 
work, even when the very best kind of shovels is used ; but 
when shovelling is to be performed with a poor tool, the laborer is 
sure to be greatly fatigued, while he performs but a light day's 
work ; but when a shovel is made of good materials, is light and 
bright, and correctly hung, a man will be able to perform twice 
the amount of labor, with half the fatigue that he would experi- 
ence with a shovel improperly hung. Shovels are too frequently 
made unnecessarily heavy in order to be of consistent strength, 
because the materials of which they are made are very poor ; but 
if they were made of good steel they might be often full one-third 
lighter, and sufficiently strong for any skillful laborer to use with- 
out fear of breaking. When the blades are made of poor iron, it 
is necessary to make them nearly twice as heavy as if they were 
made of steel ; and more than this, iron blades will not wear as 
smooth, and will not enter the dirt as easily, as a steel blade ; and 
dirt is far more apt to adhere to an iron blade than to a steel one, — 
all of which require the exercise of more force in using a shovel. 
It is no uncommon thing to find shovels from one to two pounds 
heavier than is necessary. Suppose, for example, a laborer will 
throw up ten shovelfuls in a minute ; at that rate he will throw 
up six thousand shovelfuls in a day of ten hours. If his shovel 



242 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

be two pounds heavier than is necessary, he will in ten hours 
exert a force, which is entirely lost in handling a heavy shovel, 
which would have been sufficient to have thrown up twelve thou- 
sand pounds of earth, with no more fatigue than he experiences, 
had he used a hghter shovel. The laborer will discover from this 
fact the importance of having shovels as light as will be consistent 
with necessary strength ; and the better the materials are of which 
shovels are made, the lighter they may be, and the more a work- 
man will be able to perform with a certain amount of force. In 
using a shovel, all the force which a laborer exerts should be 
turned to the most efficient purpose. It requires but little force 
to shovel a ton of earth when a man handles a good shovel with 
dexterity ; but if a laborer must bend his legs and back very much 
in order to bring his shovel in the best position to enter the sub- 
stance to be shovelled with the least force, the fatigue produced 
by bringing his body into such a position, and straightening up 
again, will be greater than that caused by thrusting in the shovel 
and lifting a shovelful. For this reason it is very poor policy for 
a laborer to use a shovel with a very short handle, like the handle 
of a spade, for shovelling any length of time, because it is very 
laborious and fatiguing. A man may shovel with a short handle 
for an hour or so as fast as he would with a long handle, and not 
discover any difference in the fatigue produced or force expended; 
but let him continue to use a shovel with a short handle all day, 
and if he does an honest day's work, unless his powers of endur- 
ance are very great, he will pronounce shovelling very laborious 
business. In shovelling dirt or manure with a short-handled 
shovel, the operator usually places the hand which holds the hilt 
of the shovel against the inside of one thigh, and bends his knees 
and body forward, and in this position, by no means an easy one, 
thrusts in the shovel. The simple act of bringing the body into 
such a position, and bringing it again erect, will require the ex- 
penditure of more force than the shovelhng alone. In order to 
shovel with the least fatigue, a laborer needs to stand almost erect, 
with his back straight and knees bent but little ; and then, with 
the handle resting across one knee, the shovel is thrust into tlie 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 243 

dirt by a forward motion of the body ; and by straightening the 
knees and keeping the arms stiff, with the shovel across the knee, 
the shovelful is hfted a few inches with the least possible fatigue. 
Then, by making a fulcrum of the knee across which the han- 
dle is resting, and by thrusting the upper end of the handle 
down with one hand, the shovelful may be raised nearly a foot 
high with the greatest ease. It must then be lifted by the arms. 
But a man's back should be always kept about straight in 
shovelling, as he will be able to work much longer and with less 
fatigue than would be possible when he is constantly bending 
and straightening his back. The knees should always perform 
the most laborious part in shovelhng dirt, and the arms should be 
kept ?is closely to the body as is convenient. My apology for 
being so particular on this subject is, — few laborers, old or young, 
know how to use a dirt-shovel with the greatest ease, and to 
perform the greatest amount of labor with the least fatigue ; 
and they often labor very hard and accomplish but little, be- 
cause they do not understand handling the shovel with dexterity 
or because it is not properly hung. I shall now treat more par- 
ticularly of 

THE RULE FOR HANGING SHOVELS IN A WORKMANLIKE MANNER. 



Fig. 108. 



Fig. 109. 



A SHOVEL WELL HUKG. 



324. Fig. 109 represents a shovel well hung, and the dotted 



244 THE YOUNG FARMEE'S MANUAL. 

lines show the angle at which the straight part of the handle and 
the blade should stand with each other, in order to have a shovel 
hang in such a manner as to work easily. "When a man takes 
such a shovel in his hands across one knee, as if he were about 
to shovel dirt, the blade should lie nearly flat on the ground^ 
on a level with his feet. This will be readily comprehended 
by the dotted lines. Every laborer who knows how to handle a 
dirt shovel with dexterity, knows that the blade of a shovel 
must lie nearly flat on the ground, in order to enter the dirt 
with the least force of the operator. In Fig. 109, for example, 
the dotted line a h represents the level on which the laborer 
stands. The blade lies flat on this level. One hand of the work- 
man grasps the handle at c, and the other hand at c?, while the 
handle rests across one knee at e. Now by a slight motion 
of the body forward^ the shovel is thrust in with the least 
possible force, and by the motions then of straightening up and 
thrusting down the hand at c?, as already mentioned, shovelling is 
performed with as little fatigue and force of a laborer as it is 
possible to do it. With a shovel hung like Fig. 109, a laborer 
can avail himself of some mechanical advantage in shovelling ; 
whereas, with a shovel exactly like it, which has a short handle, 
like the handle of a spade, one hand must not only lift much 
mo7'e than a shovelful, but it must operate as a fulcrum for the 
other hand to pry across, so as to balance the shovelful. A 
shovel like Fig. 109 is not designed to be used in ditching, or 
for shovelling up ridges along a fence, because it is so wide 
at the entering edge that twice as much force is required to 
make it enter the dirt as is required for a shovel like Fig. 1 1 of 
the same width. For shovelling sand or mortar, or for clean- 
ing stables and such like, a shovel like Fig. 109 is preferable 
to one like Fig. 110, which represents a round-pointed ditching 
shovel, or the best kind of a shovel for casting up a ridge along 
a fence. Fig. Ill represents a round-pointed shovel similar io 
Fig. 110, with the sides turned upby a blacksmith, for working 
in a narrow channel or ditch. Figs. 109, 110 and 111 are all 
hung alike, as will be seen by the dotted lines, and hung ac- 



THE YOUNG FARMERS MANUAL. 



245 



cording to the most approved mechanical principles. A shovel 
that hang's just right for a tall man will not hang exactly right for 
a short man, when they both grasp the handle at the same 




Fig. 110. 



Fig. 111. 



places ; but a short man, by grasping the handle nearer the blade, 
may use a shovel that hangs just right for a tall man, and vice 
versa. 

325. Fig. 108 represents a round pointed shovel very awk- 
wardly hung, and it would be a very disagreeable and ugly tool 
to work with. There is curvature enough in the handle, but it 
will seen by the dotted lines that the straight part of the handle, 
and the blade of the shovel, are in lines parallel with each other, 
"Whereas, if the point of it stood at the upper dotted line, as in 
the other figures, it would be a good shovel, and a laborer would 
be able to shovel with it with as much ease as he would with 
one hung like Fig. 110. With a shovel hke Fig. 108, a laborer 
must bend Tits luhole iody very loiv, in order to bring the blade in 
apposition to enter the dirt by the application of the least force. 
If he attempts to shovel with it across one knee, the blade stands 
up and down at such a sharp angle that it is difficult to keep a 
shovelful of dirt on it, and more than this, a laborer cannot thrust 
it into the dirt unless he stamps it with his foot, except the dirt 
i very mellow. Shovels are never made of this shape by skill- 
ful workmen ; but by allowing them to be exposed to the influences 



246 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

of wet and dry weather, and by prying with them, and other 
rough and hard usage, shovels that are correctly hung are often 
brought into a shape like Fig. 108 before they are one quarter 
worn out. The handles of such shovels ought to bo made of 
timber having a natural crook^ not bent, and then there would be 
little liability to spring out straight. Let the blades of shovels 
be kept hright by wiping them dry after using them, and apply- 
ing a few drops of oil, — not salted grease^ as many do, for salt will 
rust iron, — and keep the handles near the blade well painted, and 
never use a shovel for spading or prying^ for it is not a spade 
nor a handspike. When a shovel is used to spade with, the 
almost certain consequence is, that the blade will be lent directly 
across the middle. What has been penned holds equally good 
with reference to the hanging of scoop shovels, and of forks for 
pitching manure. 

BOOT IRON FOR SPADING. 

326. In spading or shovelling, when it is necessary to stamp 
the spade into the dirt with one foot, the shoulder of the spade 
or shovel would, in a short time, wear the sole of a boot entirely 
through, besides making the foot tender or lame. To obviate all 
such occurrences, a boot iron. Fig. 112, is used for the purpose 

Fig. 112. 




"a ^i/e 

BOOT lEON FOK SPADING. 

of protecting the boot, and for giving efficiency to the force of 
the laborer, a is the sole of it, made of iron, about three-six- 
teenths of an inch thick, as long as the boot is wide, and about 
two inches in width from the flange e to the forward edge of the 
iron at a. At h is one of the ears through which the leather 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 



247 



strap c passes ; <f is a buckle in one end of the strap. The ears 
are a part of the sole iron, turned up, from two to three inches 
long, according to the size of the boot. The flange e is turned 
downwards, like a hook, to prevent the shoulder of the spade 
from slipping off it. The iron is placed in the hollow of the 
boot, with the flange e against the forward side of the heel of the 
boot, and the strap c is passed behind the heel, and through mor- 
tises in each ear, as shown in the figure, and buckled around the 
instep. An ingenious blacksmith wiU make the iron for ten or 
twelve cents, and the strap and buckle will cost eight or ten more. 
This is a very useful article in using the spade, and will save the 
wear of boots very much more than its cost. 

■*• THE BAIL FENCE JACK. 

327. In repairing rail fence it is often necessary and desirable 
to put in a good rail near the bottom of a fence, where a rail is 
broken or rotten, without taking down the corners. When there 
are heavy riders on a fence, and the stakes are firmly set, it is no 
little task to take off the riders and loosen the stakes and let 

Fig. 113. 




A KAIL F£NCE JACK. 



down the corners, in order to take out old pieces of a rail, and 
place a good one there. But by having a fence jack like Fig. 
113, a man or boy can raise the corners of a fence, when it is 
staked and ridered with heavy rails, and take out the 'pieces and 
put in a good rail much quicker than he would be able to do it 
by taking the fence down and putting it up again. It is so plain 
II 



248 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

that almost any one can make it. a is the sill, about thirty inches 
long, of good timber, two by four inches square, h is the stand- 
ard, about three and a half feet long, five inches wide, one inch 
and a quarter thick, with three-quarter inch holes bored in it about 
four inches apart, c is the lever of tough timber, not less than 
three inches square at the mortise where it plays on the standard. 
The mortise should be so long that the lever can play up and 
down freely. The short end of the lever should be six or seven 
inches longer than the end of the sill, and scalloped, as in the 
illustration, to prevent its slipping off the rails. The other end 
should be about six feet long, and of a true taper from the mor- 
tise to the end. The end need not be larger than a fork handle. 
d is an iron pin with an eye in the end, attached to the lever c 
by a small chain or leather strap. The pin is for holding the 
lever at the holes in the standard for prying across, e is a pawl, 
attached to the handle, and plays in the notches in the standard 
h. In using the jack for lifting the corners of the fence, put the 
end of the lever under a rail and raise the corner a little, and 
put a stone or block of wood between the rails to keep them 
apart. Now, carry the jack to the next comer and raise it up a 
little, and fasten the lever with the pawl, and then take out the 
pieces of the rail and put in a good one, and let the fence down 
again. When it is desirable to raise the corners of a fence so as 
to put larger blocks under them, the fence jack is much more 
convenient than a handspike, because one hand can work with it 
very advantageously, while with nothing but a handspike tiuo 
hands are very necessary. If the end of the lever on which the 
rail rests extends too far beyond the end of the sill, the jack will 
tip over when a corner is resting on it. To obviate this difficulty, 
run the end of the lever under the rails so far that the weight of 
the fence will not be heyond the end of the sill. If the rails 
should be close to the ground, raise them a little and block them 
up, and then set the jack a little under the fence. Such a jack 
is a very convenient implement for raising one end of the axle- 
trees of a wagon, when the wheels are to be taken off. The 
notches for the pawl should not be quite as close together as they 



THE YOUNG FAKMER's MANUAL. 



249 



appear in the illustration. It would be a great improvement to 
have an iron rack — a straight piece of iron with teeth on one 
side of it — bolted to the standard, and an iron pawl playing in it ; 
but for ordinary purposes, notches in a wooden standard and a 
tough piece of wood for a pawl will subserve a very good purpose. 



A PICK MATTOCK OR GRUBBING HOE 

" Let servant be ready with mattock in hand, 
To grub out the bushes that cover the land." — Tusser. 

328. Is a very useful tool for setting stakes for a rail fence, 
when the stakes are not driven in the ground in a perpendicular 
position. The blade of a mattock should be not less than two 
and a half inches wide, and the handle should be of an oval form 
instead of round, so that a laborer can hold it more advanta- 
geously in the proper position when using it. When the handle 
of a mattock is round, it may turn half way over in the hands 
of a workman and he will not perceive it ; but when a handle is 
of an oval form, the eye 



also being oval, a workman 
will perceive a slight varia- 
tion of the mattock with- 
out looking to see if he is 
holding it correctly. (See 
Hammer and Beetle, Par. 
331 and 338.) 11\iq handle 
of a mattock should always 
be put through the eye 
from the lower side^ and 
then it will not draw or 
work out, if the eye is 
made as it should be — a 
little the largest on the 
lower side. Remember, 
that a mattock or grubbing 
hoe is not a crowbar for 
prying stone, nor a mill- 



FiG. 114. 




A PICK MATTOCK OR GRUBBING HOB. 



250 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

pick for dressing stone. Neither the handle nor blade is calculated 
for prying. Mattocks and picks of all forms may be seen in the 
illustrated catalogue of R. L. Allen & Co., New York city. 
For digging up trees, and for setting fence stakes among roots, 
one edge of the mattock should be in the form of an axe, for the 
purpose of cutting roots and sprouts. For ditching, or for pick- 
ing up very hard dirt, a pick with a pointed end, instead of an 
edge like a mattock, is much the best, as in the figure. 

SPOOL FOR CHALK LINE AND FENCE LINE. 

" The twisted lines curl into kinks and loops " — Homer. 

329. The majority of farmers, if they have any chalk hue at 
all — and the same is true of many good mechanics — wind it up 
on a corn coh or a stick of wood, notwithstanding the very great 
inconvenience in letting a line off, and the injury it receives by 
being wound up and let off over the end of whatever it is wound 
up on. Many mechanics have a little pocket spool to wind the 
line on, and let it off by holding it, as it revolves, with a thumb 
at one end and a finger at the other. It is a fact which but very 
few people understand, that in winding up a line or cord, or rope 
of any kind, by putting it over the end of the stick or spool, if it 
is wound up the same way it was twisted when it was made, it 
will be twisted harder and harder every time it is wound up, and 
will soon curl up, running into all sorts of kinks and loops, while, 
on the contrary, if it be wound up in an opposite direction, it will 
soon be all untiuisted and nearly worthless. I have seen many 
good lines completely spoiled in this manner, by being always 
wound up one way, and then let off by allowing the spool to 
revolve. "When a line is wound up over the end of a stick, and 
let off over the end it does not injure it, providing it is wound 
up the way that will twist it harder as it is wound up. If it is 
twisted harder by winding up, and untwisted by letting it off 
just as much as it was twisted, the line will remain in the same 
condition if wound up few or many times ; but when it is wound 
up in the contrary direction, whicli will unticist if, as it is wound 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 



251 




up, it will not generally twist it as hard as it ought to be twisted 
by simply allowing it to run off. These few ideas will enable 
the farmer to understand and to appreciate the Fig. 115. 
importance of having a spool hke Fig. 115. 
It will be discovered by the cut that there are 
three flanges to this spool, which are about 
four inches in diameter, and two inches between 
them. A half-inch hole is bored through the 
spool, and it revolves easily on the part of the 
handle which passes through it, which should 
be made of very tough wood. In letting off 
the line, let the workman, as one hand grasps 
the handle, apply the thumb against one flange 
of the spool to keep it from unwinding too 
rapidly, and in winding it up let the spool be 
turned by taking hold of the wrist-pin or little 
handle, in one flange. By letting a line off 
such a spool, and by winding it up without spool for chalk line, 
passing it over the end of the spool, it wiU never become un- 
twisted, nor twisted so hard that it will curl into kinks ; and a 
hne will last much longer when kept on such a spool than it will 
when kept on a corn cob or stick, and more than all besides, it is 
infinitely more convenient. A chalk line is kept in one gain and 
a fence line in the other. To keep the other line from unwind- 
ing when one is being let off, cut a gash in each flange with a 
saw about three-sixteenths of an inch deep, and after the lines 
are wound up draw the ends into these gashes. Always have a 
loop in the end of each line, for hooking on a scratch-awl or pin. 
330. When chalking the line, the line should not be allowed to 
run across a lump of chalk, cutting gashes all through it, but the 
chalk should be held in such a manner that the line will run 
between the thumb and chalk, wearing down one side of the chalk, 
A httle skill will enable a workman to wear a piece of chalk all 
out on the line without cutting gashes all through it. Select soft 
chalk, as hard chalk will not shed, and will wear out the line. 
For black chalk, a billet of basswood, burned to a coal, and the 



252 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

fire quenched by dipping it in water quickly, will answer a good 
purpose. 

THE HAMMER. 

" Here view tne hammer, glory of our nation ; 
The universal emblem of mechanics ; 
The boasted empress of civilization. 

What thrilling, wondrous stories in dynamics, 
Are told of hammers, back in bygone ages ! 
How oft its feats fine laurels crowned I Wise sages, 
With their fair hands the chap lets round entwined. 
And statesmen, kings, with glory it enshrined." — Edwards. 

331. Fig. 116 represents a claw hammer; and the face should 
be of steel, so hard that it will not batter up, and not so hard 
that it will cleave off, and the claws should be of the same mate- 
rial. The handle should not be round, but of an oval form, so 
that it may be held in the proper postion, when in use, more 

Fig. 116. 



CLAW HAilMEB, 



advantageously than if the handle were round. The face should 
be ground smooth and true on a grindstone, and should be paral- 
lel with a line cutting the centre of the handle, as shown by the 
dotted line. If the face stands inward too much towards the 
handle, or in an opposite direction, or if the face be convex or 
one-sided, or if the corners be knocked off, it will be a poor thing 
to drive nails with. The face of a claw hammer should never 
be used for pounding on chisel handles when mortising, because 
the corners are so sharp that it will soon split them or wear them 
out ; and it should never be used for hammering iron or stone, 
lest the corners of the face be broken off or battered up. Make 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 253 

it a rule to use the claw hammer for nothing but driving nails 
and drawing nails. If oil or tar be on the face, it will be almost 
impossible to drive a nail with it until it has been removed. In 
drawing a nail out of hard wood with the claw, strike it one or 
two blows, enough to start it in a little, and it will come out 
much easier than if it had not been started in. When the hand 
grasps the handle, let the thumb he lengthways of the handle, 
instead of clasping it as shown in the figure. "With the thumb 
on the top of the handle one can strike truer and longer without 
tiring the wrist. In order to drive a nail true, place the hammer 
on the nail, and then keep the eye on the nail, when striking, 
instead of on the hammer. Never try to draw a nail with the 
claws if* it wiU not start without starting the handle in the eye 
of the hammer. If one is always careful to put a little block or 
piece of iron under the hammer for a fulcrum, there will be little 
danger of starting the handle. If the hammer hangs correctly, 
and the handle gets bent, it will not hang right, and will bend a 
nail down before it has driven it in. If the face of a hammer is 
ground true, as it should be, on the grindstone, not one-sided nor 
convex, and if the face is in a line parallel with a line which 
would cut the centre of the handle from end to end, as in the 
figure, and if the handle is made of a true and oval form, there 
will be httle danger of bending nails over sideways when driving 
them. When the handle of a hammer is round, a workman can- 
not perceive hy feeling the handle whether a hammer is in the 
right position for driving a nail' or not ; but when the handle is 
of an oval form, and is put in the eye true, with the widest way 
of the handle in the direction exactly from the claiu to the face, 
after a workman has become accustomed to a hammer he can 
snatch it up without looking at it, and the perception of the fin- 
gers and thumb will determine most accurately the correct posi- 
tion for driving a nail. If the face of the nail hammer were a 
little concave, it would be less liable to slip or glance off when 
driving nails. A good nail hammer is not a proper tool to drive 
wooden pins with, nor for driving any piece of work together 
with, because the corners are so sharp that they will split a pin 



254 THE YOUNG FAEMEK'S MANUAL. 

very readily, and make deep dents in the sides of anything that 
is hammered with it. Should the face of a claw hammer be- 
come battered up, it should be tempered again, and made as hard 
as it will bear to be and not fly or break easily. The handle of 
a hammer should have a httle bilge in it at the point where the 
hand grasps it, as in the figure. If the handle is made of a uni- 
form size from end to end, a workman will be constantly losing 
his hold ; whereas a Httle swell in a handle will prevent its slip- 
ping in the hand. 

THE SLEDGE HAMMER. 

332. Sledge hammers are of various forms, and are made, 
when made properly, with a reference to the services which they 
are intended to perform. If a sledge is wanted simply to drive 
stakes and posts for fencing, the best form for such work will be 
a round cast-iron sledge, with two faces, similar to the beetle. 
The faces of such a hammer should be convex a little, and not 
have sharp or square corners like the face of a claw hammer, 
because, if the corners are square or sharp, if a workman does 
not strike exactly square when driving a stake or post, such sharp 
corners, will make deep dents in them ; and they are far more 
liable to split a post than if the faces were a little convex. But it 
is not well to have the faces too convex ; because, if they are too 
convex the efficiency of a blow, in driving wood, is partly lost, in 
consequence of the great convexity of the face, which bruises and 
indents the wood more than if the faces were square. When the 
pattern for such a hammer is made, the convexity of the faces 
should not exceed one-eighth of an inch across the face, and the 
sharp corners should be rounded off a little. About twelve to six- 
teen pounds would be the proper weight for a hammer of this 
description. But such a hammer should never be used for pound- 
ing iron, nor for breaking stone, because cast-iron hammers will 
break easily when hammering substances harder than wood. 

333. The handle for such a hammer should be of an oval form, 
and of good timber, with a knob at the end of it similar to the 
beetle handle, with faces in lines parallel with a line cutting the 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 255 

centre of the handle, as shown at the beetle, Fig. 117; and tlie 
widest way of the handle should be in the direction from one face 
of the sledge to the other. 

334. When a workman attempts to drive a post, for example, 
with such a hammer, which has a round handle, if he is not skill- 
ful in using such a tool, he will not be able to strike true, and will 
split half the posts which he undertakes to drive. When the 
handle is round, such a hammer may turn one-fourth of the way 
around in the hands ; and unless the workman can see the face of 
the hammer, he will not be able to tell whether he is going to 
strike with a corner or side^ or with the face of the hammer. But 
if the handle be of an oval form, and the hilt oval, the perception 
of the "hand will determine, very correctly, whether the face is in 
the proper position for striking a square blow or not. Such 
handles are almost always made round ; and we often see laborers 
strike, many times, a half-dozen blows, without starting a post at 
all, simply because they do not strike true and straight ; and they 
will strike with a corner of the sledge, when it will fly over 
and over in their hands, and they will be obliged to give it up 
with the exclamation, " It carit he drivenV when the fault is partly 
in the too\ and partly in the workman. 

335. When a skillful laborer attempts to drive a post with such 

a hammer, he will set the sledge on the end of the post, on the 

face, square^ and at once calculate how far to drop the hand that 

holds the hilt, in order to have the hammer strike square ; and he 

will grasp the hilt of the handle firmly to prevent the sledge from 

striking on one corner; and every blow, when the face strikes 

square, will crack as sharply as the report of a cut rifle. But 

when an awkward, unskillful Jonathan attempts to drive a post 

with a hammer having a round handle, his blows sound as dull as 

if he struck a post of India-rubber ; and he will hammer the end 

of a post all to slivers, before it is half driven into the ground. 

Let the farmer bear in mind, that in order to have the blows of a 

hammer most effective, the face must strike square against the 

substance to be driven. When striking heavy blows, he should 

observe how he holds the handle when lie strikes an effective blow, 
11* 



256 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

and then endeavor to keep the hammer as nearly in that position 
as possible at every blow. A skillful laborer will usually strike 
truer and more effective blows by grasping the handle at the hilt 
with hotli hands, and swinging it at arms length over his head. 
But this manner of swinging a heavy sledge-hammer is much 
more fatiguing and laborious than to slide one hand towards tlie 
sledge every time it is elevated. — (Read paragraph 339.) 

STONE MAULS 

336. Are sometimes made of cast-iron, for the purpose of break 
ing stone ; and instead of a flat face, one end of the pattern is 
rounded off to a kind of conical obtuse apex, while the other end 
is rounded in the form of a pyramidal apex, not brought to a 
sharp edge, but in the form of a blacksmith's swedge for making 
a circular groove. A hammer of this form will stand a vast 
deal of hammering without breaking, but it would be a worthless 
tool to drive posts or stakes with, because it would indent and 
bruise and split the end of a post, without driving it but little. 
There are several other kinds of hammers, a notice of which does 
not seem to come within the province of this work. But as every 
farmer needs a hammer, besides the claw-hammer, for riveting, a 
few words with reference to 

THE RIVETING HAMMER 

337. May not be out of place, which for ordinary purposes 
should weigh about one pound. If it be too heavy, rivets are 
very apt to lend in consequence of too heavy a blow, when spread- 
ing the ends of them with the hammer. The face of a riveting 
hammer should be a little convex, and the edge of it should be 
acute enough to dent or spread the ends of a rivet readily ; and 
it should not be so sharp as to cut the iron when riveting. Liglit 
blows made with a light hammer are more effective in spreading 
a rivet than a blow of an equal momentum made with a heavier 
hammer. A riveting hammer should have a longer handle than 
an ordinary claw hammer, in order to give a greater velocity to it 



THE TOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 257 

in striking. It is not very practicable to spread the end of a 
small rivet with a hammer that weighs two or three pounds, 
because a stroke with such a hammer would be so heavy as to 
crush or double a rivet before the end could be spread. Riveting 
hammers of almost any desirable size may be obtained at most of 
the hardware stores. (See Momentum, in the next volume.) 



THE MALLET AND BEETLE. 

'' The beetle, now twin-brother of the hammer, 
Holds equal rank in pounding and for clamor ; 
Unlike the hammer with its flinty face, 
The beetle, in close impact, yields an ace.'' — Edwards. 

338. A mallet should be made of some very hard wood ; and 
if it be not made of a knot, the ends of it should be banded like 
the beetle, to keep it from splitting. That part of a tree, if it be 
tough wood, which grows just above the surface of the ground, 
which is called the crook^ will make the very best mallets, which 
will require no hooping. I have a mallet which was made of 
the crook of a part of a white ash stump, which has been the only 
mallet in use for framing all my buildings, and doing all my shop 
work for sixteen years, and it is not half worn out as yet. A 
mallet should be turned out true, with the ends convex or rounding, 
not less than half an inch from edge to edge. The handle should 
be put in true, so that the faces will be parallel with the handle, as 
shown in the Fig. 117. Let it be well oiled to prevent its crack- 
ing. Never allow the faces of the mallet to be bruised and dented 
on iron bolts and the like, but keep it smooth for pounding on 
chisel handles only. A tough piece of apple-wood will make 
about as good a mallet as almost any other kind of wood. But if 
it is made of a round piece of wood, on account of its great liability 
to check, it should b^ treated as recommended for 



BEETLES. 

339. Figure 1J7 represents a farmer's beetle, made in a work- 



258 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 



Fig. 117. 



A WOODEN HEETLK. 



manlike manner. Beetles should always be turned true, and tlie 

handle turned of an oval 
form, (see Sledge Ham- 
i!|' H MER, paragraph 332,) 
fljllll f|M and put in very true, so 
~ "'~M that a line cutting the 
K iljim centre of the handle will 
M , u ' m be exactly parallel with 
lines continued square 
across the ends or face 
of the beetle, as shown by the dotted lines, Fig. 117. The beetle 
should hang as nearly like the sledge hammer as possible; and 
the reader can refer to that paragraph (333) for the information 
which seems to be lacking in this place. 

340. Beetles should be made of very firm, tough wood, such as 
the butt end of a small locust, iron-wood, or apple-wood. If a 
beetle is to be made of a round stick, which has the heart of the 
tree in the centre, when the timber is green, a lot of beetles 
should be sawed off, about eight or nine inches long, in late 
autumn, and an inch and a half hole bored lengthwise through the 
centre of the sticks ; and they should be allowed to season during 
the winter, not in a stove room, lest they check badly, but under 
shelter. The object of the hole in the centre is, to allow the 
timber to settle together, without cracking or checking. When 
they are made of split pieces of wood, it will not be necessary to 
bore them, as they will not check like a stick with the heart in it, 
(See Seasoning Timber, in next vol.) "When they are seasoned 
thoroughly, turn out a tough stick, just large enough to drive 
through the beetle, and turn out the beetle like the figure, with a 
shoulder two inches from each end, leaving the ends just large 
enough to receive the rings when they are red hot. (See Ex- 
pansive Force, in next vol.) By heating the rings before put- 
ting them on, and driving them down to the shoulder while hot, 
and then by cooling them quickly, before they have time toJ)urn 
the beetle but little, they will, by contracting, become so tight 
that they will remain tight until the beetle is worn out, without 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 259 

wedging. Should they become loose, let them be wedged well 
with wedges of hard, tough timber. (See paragraph 345.) Many 
men will wedge such things with wedges of soft timber ; but 
every good mechanic who knows anything about driving wedges, 
will tell you, that anything can be wedged very much tighter with 
hard wood wedges than with wedges of soft wood. Use an inch 
framing chisel (see Fig. 156) for making checks in the ends of a 
beetle for the wedges ; and make the wedges a sixteenth of an 
inch ivider than the chisel, and then they will not work out. 
Some men prefer to have a beetle made without any shoulder for 
the rings, but my experience teaches me, that a beetle will wear 
longer, and the rings remain true longer, when it is made with 
shoulders, than when it is made of a true taper, without shoulders 
for the rings ; because, if a laborer happens to strike mostly on 
one side of the end of a beetle, unless the rings are so tight that 
they cannot be moved by much pounding, one side of the rings 
will be driven on farther than the other, and the faces will soon 
become one-sided ; and then it will be an awkward tool to strike 
with. And if the rings are not very tight, when the wood begins 
to batter and spread over them they will drive on towards the 
middle of the beetle, and a beetle will be all stove up and worth- 
less before it is half worn out. 

341. The size of the different parts of an ordinary beetle is about 
as follows : heetle eight or nine inches long, shoulders two inches, 
rings^ of the best of iron, one inch wide, about three-eighths of an 
inch thick, and about large enough to go on the end of a beetle, 
five inches in diameter, and handle about thirty inches long. For 
a strong man the handle should be longer than for boys, or men 
of inferior strength. Where the handle enters the head, it should 
not be less than an inch and a half in diameter. The hilt and 
straight part of the handle may be made to suit the size of the 
laborer's hands. A man with small hands and short fingers needs 
a smaller handle than he who has very large hands, with fingers 
of a corresponding length. Great care should be exercised in 
putting in the handle, lest it stand as shown by the dotted handle 
in the figure. It is no uncommon thing to see handles standing 



260 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

at such an angle ; and when they do, we hear those who use 
such beetles complain of having their hands hurt often by the jar, 
in consequence of not hitting the wedges true ; and more than all 
else, beetles that are hung one-sided, wear one-sided ; and as they 
usually in striking hit one corner or one side of the top of an iron 
wedge, they will not wear as long, nor will the force of driving, 
when the beetle is in use, be half as effective as if the face struck 
the wedge perfectly square. (See Using Sledge, paragraph 335.) 
After the rings have been but on and the handle driven in, make 
two plugs of hard wood, and drive them in the ends .of the beetle 
very tightly, and saw them off even with the surface ; it is then 
ready for use. 

HANDLING A BEETLE. 

342. It is often very amusing to see how awkwardly and ineffi- 
ciently many laborers handle a beetle in splitting wood or rails, 
or anything else. One blow will be on one corner of an iron 
wedge, and the next blow will be on another corner, and the next 
one will be in such a manner that one corner of the wedge and 
beetle ring will come in contact, and the beetle will roll over and 
over, and very hkely will fly half a rod ; and when the laborer goes 
to get his beetle again, he will not unlikely find a ring bro- 
ken. When beetle rings are put on as tightly as they ought 
to be, one or two awkward blows with the beetle, in such an 
unskillful manner that the iron wedge and beetle ring will come 
in contact, will snap a ring asunder instantaneously, unless it is of 
the very best iron; and even then rings will often break, es- 
pecially in frosty weather, when the blow is not very powerful. 
Laborers ought to know — ^but I blush to say that one in fifty does 
not know — that when the face of a beetle is struck on the corner 
of an iron wedge, the blow is not half as effective as it would be 
if the face struck the head of the wedge entirely square. And 
more than all this, when all the blows are applied to a corner of 
the wedge, a beetle will be completely worn out before it has 
performed one-fourth of tlie service that it would have done had 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 261 

the blows been applied in such a manner that the face of the beetle 
and head of the wedge came together square^ as they should come. 
It is most surprising to witness how long a good beetle will last 
some laborers, and how much they will use it at hard pounding, 
while, on the contrary, it is still more surprising to see how very 
soon another laborer will use up a good beetle, before he has used 
it enough to begin to even think of its being worn out. The first 
alluded to always strike very true and square, while the latter 
deal their blows in every imaginable way but square and true. 
A laborer who handles his beetle with skill, will pound very hard 
on his wedges all day, and the faces of the beetle will be battered 
but little, while he who strikes awkwardly with a beetle just as 
good as the other, will use it up in one day, as if it had been in 
hard service for a week or more. It is all folly to use up beetles 
at such a rate, and a laborer ought to know better than to strike 
a ring on an iron wedge, or to strike a corner of a wedge with the 
face of the beetle. 

343. In whatever position a wedge may be standing, place the 
face of the beetle and head of the wedge square together, then grasp 
the hilt of the handle firmly, and be careful to make every blow 
square, and not on one side of the face of the beetle, but as nearly 
in the centre of it as may be. If a wedge leans a little, or varies 
its position as it is driven in, let the position of the beetle be 
varied accordingly, so as to have the beetle and wedge strike each 
other exactly square. By exercising a little skill in this respect, a 
laborer will very soon find that he will be able to drive a wedge 
with half\he number of blows, and not use up his beetle one- 
fourth as much as when he deals his blows every way hut square 
on the head of the wedge and face of the beetle. (Read the 
paragraphs on the Hammer and Sledge, 331.) As beetle and 
wedges are used together, I shall now notice 



262 



THE YOUNG FARMERS MANUAL. 



THE WEDGE. HOW TO MAKE WEDGES. 

*• The mighty power of the wedge to sever 
Both flinty rocks and gnarls, exceeds the lever. 
Impelled by force of oft-repeated blows, 
In splitting, piercing, cutting, and in cleaving, 
Or rending right and left, or in upheaving — 
Unlike the screw its power no measure knows." — Edwards. 

344. Fig. 118 represents a well-formed iron wedge, and a is 
the head, h is one of the sides, d is one of the edges, and e is the 
Figures entering edge. A wedge will not 

119, 120, 121, rebound as readily when the cor 
ners at the entering edge are made 
flush, or square, like the figure, as 
it will when the comers are round- 
ed off very much like the edge of 
an old axe, the corners of which 
are well ground off. Sharp cor- 
ners of an iron wedge make it 
stick when entering. 

345. Fig. 119 is a very ill- 
shapen wedge, but very like the 
iron wedges which many laborers 
use, and exactly like the wooden 
wedges which are often made with the false impression that they 
will be more effective of such a form than if they were like Fig. 
118. But wooden wedges of such a form cannot possibly be as 
effective for any purpose as if they were like Fig. 118, because 
small wedges of such an ill form will be crushed at the entering 
point before they are half driven in ; and if large wedges are 
made of such a form, it requires a greater number of blows to 
drive one in far enough to open a log two inches. 

346. Every author whose writings I have consulted on the 
subject of the wedge has simple spoken of it in philosophical or 
theoretical terms, and the most important considerations Avhich 
affect, directly or remotely, many of the operations of the farm, 
and which are all-important for the beginner to understand, have 
been entirely overlooked or rejected ; and what has been penned 




\^ 



THE YOUNG FAKMER's MANUAL. 263 

in reference to the wedge, if put into practice according to the 
strict letter of the various writers, will, in practice^ lead the begin- 
ner into most egregious errors. The wedge has always been 
considered as a double inclined plane^ and its efficiency has been 
spoken of as being in proportion to the acuteness and length of its 
sides. Theoretically speaking, this is all correct ; but, in prac- 
tice^ no principle in philosophy proves to be more errone- 
ous than this. Theory would teach the farmer to make 
his wedges, in order to be most effective when impelled by a 
given force, sixteen or twenty, or more, feet in length. But 
practice instructs us that there is a certain length for a wedge, 
and thickness for the head, which is much more effective, when 
impelled 'by a given force, than if it were longer or shorter. 
Every man who has split much timber knows too well, that a 
wedge of the proper length and thickness can be driven into a 
log with less force than one of the same thickness which is twice 
as long, to say nothing of a short and blunt wedge. Now this 
is what the beginner wants to know ; he needs something tangi- 
He — some instruction in making wedges that will render his 
labor as light and effective as possible. Suppose, for instance, 
an iron wedge is two inches square at the head, and its 
sides of a true taper to the edge, and twelve or more feet long. 
Theory would instruct us, that a wedge of such dimensions could 
be driven with less force than one about ten inches long, of a 
true taper to the edge, with the head of the size already men- 
tioned. But, in practice, we find that such a long wedge would 
be utterly useless, because it would not possess sufficient strength 
to resist the force of heavy blows without being crushed or 
doubled up in places, and it would be very Hable to twist 
and turn wherever the grain of the timber ran; and, more 
than all else beside, it would require three times as many hloivs 
to drive it up to the head at it would require to drive a wedge 
of the proper dimensions, and the friction would be so incal- 
culably great in such a long wedge, that it is not at all proba- 
ble that the force exerted by one man with a beetle would be 
sufficient to drive such a wedge clear to the head, even were it 



264 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

sufficiently strong to bear driving. And even if sucli long 
wedges were most efifective, tliej would be most inconvenient 
and unwieldy tools. As the friction in driving wedges is 
usually so intense, the idea of an intelligent laborer always is, to 
have the most economical and convenient amount of surface in the 
sides of the wedge, which will prove most efifective under a given 
number of blows. This leads us to speak of 

THE MOST CONVENIENT AND EFFECTIVE DIMENSIONS OF WEDGES. 

347. Iron wedges for splitting timber should always be so 
thick and strong that they will not bend nor twist, even when 
driven into the toughest knots and gnarls. The size which has 
been found in practice to be the most convenient and effective for 
ordinary purposes, is about ten inches long, two and a half inches 
wide, and about two inches in thickness at the head, and of a true 
taper to the entering edge, which should not be brought entirely 
to a feather edge ; but the entering edge should be left about a 
sixteenth of an inch thick when it is tempered, and then ground 
oflf to a sharp edge, hke the edge of an axe (see Fig. 152). The 
entering edge of iron wedges should be made of steel, and tem- 
pered about as hard as for cold-chisels. Iron wedges may be 
smaller than this, or larger, if desired ; but it is just as well, when 
a man has two wedges of the size just mentioned, to have gluts^ 
as large iron wedges are rather costly, and are no better follow- 
ing in a check made by iron wedges than a good glut. 

348. One very important consideration, which has been and 
is entirely overlooked by laborers, is, to have their iron wedges 
in the most proper order. The head should be a little convex, 
and the sharp corners on the edge smoothed oflf a little, so that 
they will not cut the face of the beetle. The two edges and two 
sides should be hammered as true as is convenient, and then 
they should be ground off on the grindstone as smoothly and 
true as the blade of a saw. After the sides are ground smooth, 
if they were polished they would enter their whole length with 
less than half the number of blows which would be required to 
drive the same wedo;e unpolished and all battered up, as wedges 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 265 

usually are. Laborers are not aware how much unnecessary 
hard pounding they perform when the entering wedge is very 
dull and the sides uneven and rough ; and they will not believe 
that there is really any difference, after all, in driving rough 
and smooth wedges, until they have some ocular proof of the 
fact. But let the beginner, or any (?ne else, rest assured that 
it will abundantly remunerate him, in saving hard labor, to 
polish the sides of iron wedges, and to keep them smooth and 
the entering edge sharp. 

349. Is it suggested that if well polished and sharp they will 
not stick as well as if left rough and uneven ? I know, and any 
one can try the experiment, that a polished and sharp wedge will 
not recoil Vhen splitting green or frozen timber, half as often as 
a dull and rough wedge ; and with sharp and well-polished wedges 
a laborer would be able to split frozen timber many times when 
it would be impracticable to do anything with it if the wedges 
were dull and rough. Iron wedges should never be driven with 
an instrument of iron, because it would soon batter and spread 
the heads, and destroy their proper shape. When wedges are 
driven with an iron beetle, they soon become in shape like Fig. 
119, with the head spread so that the sides are not of a true 
taper. When it is almost impossible to make a wedge stick in 
green or frozen timber, by having the wedge quite warm, or by 
driving a little wedge made of dry wood into the check, and 
then driving the iron wedge into the dry wedge, it will usually 
stick. Some laborers drive a little flat stone into the check where 
the wedge is started, and then drive the wedge into the stone in 
order to make it stick ; but stone will usually make the sides of a 
wedge rough, so that it will drive hard. 

GLUTS 

350. Are large wooden wedges, and are not to be driven into 
the solid timber like an iron wedge, but into the checks which 
have been formed by the iron wedges. They are usually made 
of round sticks of timber, with two sides flattened at about the 
same angle of iron wedges. A lot of sticks ought to be sawed 



266 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

of the proper length, and laid up under shelter in a safe place, 
where they will be seasoned and ready for use when gluts are 
needed. None but the hardest and toughest timber should be used 
for gluts, and if made when the timber is green, they will check 
less, and it is not half the work to make them that it would be 
to make them after they are seasoned. Laborers generally make 
no provision for gluts until they arrive at the woods, or where 
they are to labor, and then they will make gluts of the limbs of 
a green tree, which are very poor things for such a purpose, and 
spend time enough to no good purpose, to pay for half a dozen 
well-made gluts. And, more than this, gluts made of green 
timber will seldom last one quarter as long as if seasoned, and 
they require, many times, twice as many blows to drive them as 
if they were seasoned. And another thing of importance is, it 
is not at all practicable to make a glut in a workmanlike manner 
with the axe only. I know that they are usually made with no 
other tool but the axe, and they are made of every imaginable 
shape and form, like Fig. 119, or like Fig. 120, which shows an 
edge view of a glut which has been made with the axe alone. 
It will be discovered that the face sides of Fig. 120, which should 
be as true and smooth as the face of a plane, are very rough and 
hacked up, and not of a true taper, and will require more than 
twice as many blows to drive it than if it were true and smooth. 
He who wishes to appropriate all his strength, or the strength of 
his laborers, to the most effective purpose when splitting timber, 
will make his gluts at the work-shop^ and have them well sea- 
soned before they are used. 

351. The most pri),.'M- manner of making a glut is, to dress it 
off with an axe as tine and smooth as practicable, leaving the 
entering edge never less than half an inch thick. In large gluts 
the entering edge should be three-fourths of an inch in thickness. 
Then, put it in the vise and plane it off true and smooth, and 
round the corners of the head and the corners of the enterinsr 

o 

edge with the drawing-knife, as shown at Fig. 121, which repre- 
sents a view of the face side of a well-made glut. If the enter- 
ing edg ^ of a glut is reduced in making it to a feather edge, it 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 



267 



will be very liable to be split and shivered to splinters, when it 
happens to be driven on to, or among slivers. It may seem, too, 
unnecessary to finish the face sides of a glut with a plane ; but 
let two wedges be finished, one with a plane, as directed, and the 
other with an axe only, and a laborer of keen perception will 
quickly tell which will drive the easier. If a glut is not smooth 
and true on the face sides, it will be far more liable to recoil, or 
"bound out," when opening a log. Wedges of every descrip- 
tion should be smooth and true. 



BORING MACHINE. 

352. At paragraph 89 allusion has been made to a boring 
machine, for boring fence caps. But as there is so much boring 
to be performed in making the different styles of fence, I have 
thought best to give a cut of a very cheap and efficient boring 
machine which I have had in successful operation for several 
years. 

Fig. 122. 




f^BFieuSON ALBANY ""* 



BORING MACHINE. 



353. Fig. 122 represents a perspective view of the machine, 
the frame of which is made of square scantling, 3 by 3, of 



268 THE YOUNG FAKMER's MANUAL. 

any desired length to suit the length of mandrel, length of 
auger, and materials to be bored. It is about three feet wide, 
and from two to three feet high, to correspond with the 
stature of the workman who uses it. Fence posts, fence 
caps, bar posts, or anything else to be bored, are laid on the^ 
slide a, to which a strap of leather h is fastened, which strap 
passes around a pulley-roller c, and then is carried back under 
the slide a, over another pulley roller, as seen in the end of the 
frame, and is fastened to a treadle. The shde a has gains in 
the under side of it, which fit neatly to the top pieces of the 
frame, so that it can slide back and forth toward the auger. If 
it does not fit well, and one end is allowed to be moved faster 
than the other end, a post will not be bored at a right angle. 
(See Ranging Saws, paragraph 679.) 

354. The way to lore with it. — Place a post on the slide a, 
and stand at the end of the machine, having hold of the slide 
with each hand, and when the auger revolves place one foot on 
the treadle and press downwards with it, and push a little with 
the hands. As soon as a hole is bored, remove the foot and 
draw back the slide. When the stuff to be bored is small, lay 
some pieces of board on the slide a, in order to adjust the height 
to correspond with the auger. To bore holes diagonally^ nail 
pieces of board on one end of the slide, to serve as a gauge to 
hold the material to be bored in a diagonal position. 

355. This machine may be worked by hand, or it may be 
driven by any kind of horse power. Pullies of various sizes may 
be placed on the mandrel, and for boring small holes it may re- 
volve as rapidly as the journal of a circular saw. When large 
holes — say four or more inches in diameter — are to be bored, 
the pulley on the mandrel should be so large that it will revolve 
about one hundred and twenty times in a minute. One horse 
turns my auger when boring four-inch holes in hard timber, and 
the auger revolves about one hundred and thirty times per min- 
nute. Now, if it were driven by a smaller pulley, that would 
make it revolve twice as rapidly, it would require two horses to 
turn it in order to keep- boring constantly. 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 



269 



HOW TO OBTAIN SUCH A BORING MACHINE. 

356. If you go to the macliine shop and order such a machine, 



\ 



it will cost not less than about 
$20. I have cuts of patent bor- 
ing machines which cost from $30 
to $50. But farmers do not wish 
to pay $30 or $40 for a ma- 
chine which can be aiSbrded for six 
or seven dollars, which will sub- 
serve every good purpose, and last 
a whole life-time. It is all folly to 
pay mechanics an extortionate price 
for turning, filing and polishing a 
piece of (soarse work, which will 
not add in the least to the dura- 
bility or ej0&ciency of a machine. 

357. In the first place, if you 
are not mechanic enough to make 
the frame, employ a good joiner 
by the day, who will be able, if he 
can perform a faithful day's work, 
to make all the wood-work in a 
day and a half. 

358. Next, write Wales French, 
68 Beekman street. New York 
city, or to Westville, Conn., and 
procure a patent extension-lip bit, 
which is represented by Fig. 123, 
w^th which holes of any size larger 
than two inches may be bored with 
one bit. A is the adjustable ex- 
tension cutter, which is adjusted 
in the mortise of the main part of 
the shank 5 by a set screw or 
key. Two spur cutters c c cut 
the shaving or chips, making n 



Fig. 123. 




BORINO MACUINB. 



270 



THE YOUNG FAKMER's MANUAL. 



clean, smooth hole. D represents an edge view of the extension 
cutter, separate from the shank h. The entire auger should not be 
more than one foot long. Order the end of the shank made 
round, to fit a hole or socket in the end of the mandrel (see 
Fig. 124), instead of having it square, because it can be fitted 
to run true with less work when the socket is round. The 
next thing will be, 

THE MANDREL, 

which is represented by Fig. 124. Take a round bar of inch- 
and-a-half iron, eighteen inches long, to the machine-shop, and 
have two bearings a a turned and pojished (see Fitting up 

Fig. 124. 




THE VLAyDSEL. 



Machinery, next vol.), and fitted to two iron boxes; have the 
shank of the auger fitted to the end of the mandrel, and have a 
small hole bored through the mandrel, at the end or bottom of 
the socket, so that a punch may be driven in to force out the 
shank of the auger. The shape of the rocket is shown by the 
dotted lines at the end of the mandrel. Have a fly-wheel b and 
large pulley c keyed on the mandrel, and have a small bolt put 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 271 

through the end of crank and mandrel. The bearing a nearest 
the crank should be turned an inch in diameter, in order to form 
a good shoulder ; and the other bearing should be an inch and 
a fourth in diameter, as more strain will come on that when bor- 
ing. A hoop of band iron may be put on the fly or balance 
wheel, about three inches wide, and may be used for a pulley in 
boring large holes. Always take off the crank when boring with 
a horse ; because a crank will produce a tremulous motion unless 
thsre is a corresponding weight on the other side of the mandrel. 
(See Balancing Machinery, in next vol.) 

359. If one has a horse saw, or straw-cutter, or threshing- 
machine cylinder, have a hole bored in one end of the journal, 
for the auger, and make the frame of the boring machine to re- 
ceive the shaft of saw or shaft of straw-cutter. This will save 
the expense of a mandrel. A hole may be bored for the auger in 
the end of the shaft for twenty-five cents. Then, the cost of 
auger, $2 50, frame and fixtures, $4 00=$ 6 50, will cover the 
whole expense, besides the mandrel, of as good a boring machine 
as any farmer can desire. 

A GRASS HOOK, OR DUTCH GRASS SICKLE. 

360. Fig. 125 represents an instrument for pruning or trim- 
ming hedges after they have grown too high to be clipped 
with a stiff, sharp grass scythe. They should be heavier than a 

Fig. 125. 




A GRASS nOOK. 



common grain sickle, having a sharp fine edge — and not a sickle 

edge. They may be obtained at R. L. Allen's Agricultural 

Warehouse, 189 Water street, New York city. 

361. For the first two or three seasons, the best instrument for 
12 



272 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

clipping a hedge is a good grass scythe. After this time there is 
no better instrument than such a sickle, according to the opinion 
of Mr. A. H. Ernst, Spring Garden, Ohio, who says : " In chp- 
ping hedges, if the sickle is to be used with one hand, the handle 
may be about six inches long ; and, if both hands, it should be 
from two to two and a half feet long. For a hedge not over three 
and a half feet high, one ha.nd is all sufficient. But when the 
hedge is higher than that, both hands are necessary. "We have 
a fine hedge, of some two miles, around Spring Garden Cemetery, 
of Osage Orange, six feet high, for trimming which this instru- 
ment alone is used. Two men, one right-handed and the other 
left-handed, start at the same point, on opposite sides, and with a 
quick stroke upwards, make a clean sweep of all the straggling 
branches, trimming the hedge in the form of the letter A, which 
is decidedly the best form for a hedge, as it gives the greatest ex- 
posure to light and air, which is a very essential point to the 
health and duration of a hedge. I should prefer to have the 
borders of my hedges raised somewhat above the common surface 
of the ground, so as to admit a freer circulation of air and light 
to the lower branches." 

THE AXE. 

" The faithful axe, whose burnished blade 
Stood gleaming in the old oak's shade, 
In quick response replied, Who, tell, 
Save me, the mighty forests fell? 
Who clave the gnarly oaks and pines. 
The thorn, the brambles, and the vines ?" — ^Edwards. 

362. The axe is one of the most efficient implements of the 
farmer, and, when made of a correct shape and put in good order, 
when hung correctly and handled expertly, performs wonders, 
even when he who handles it is by no means strong. It is very 
poor policy to attempt to chop with a poor axe, because a laborer, 
in a very short time, with a poor axe, will lose time and expend 
strength — to no profit — sufficient to purchase a good axe. Chop- 
pers often feel too poor to purchase a new axe, and will peck, 
peck, with an old worn-out tool, year after year, very much dis- 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 



273 



satisfied with their day's work. If they had no other means of 
obtaining a new and good axe, it would be a matter of economy 
" to work out" a day or two, and earn each enough to get a good 
axe ; and then with half the time and strength that would be re- 
quired with the old axe, they would be able to accomplish enough 
more with a good axe to pay for it. 

363. Figure 126 represents an axe with its different parts 

Fig. 126. 




A CHOPPING AXE CORRECTLY HUXG. 



lettered. A represents the heap or poll, which is sometimes made 
of steel ; B the edge, C the steel, D the outside corner, E the 
inside corner, jPthe eye. The position of the axe, from the eye 
to the edge, is called the hit or hlade of the eye. G is the helve, 
H is the hilt of the helve. The dotted lines represent the angle of 
the axe and helve, and will be referred to under the head of hang- 
ing an axe. 

THE SHAPE OF THE AXE. 

"A neat, symmetrical, bccomiug shape." 

364. Nothing adds more to the efficiency of an axe, as a tool, 
than a correct shape of the bit or blade. Manufacturers often 
give a shape to the axe which defies and sets at naught every 
correct principle in mechanics. Some make them with a very 
small poll — with almost no poll at all — and with a very long 
blade, and very wide from the outside corner to the inside comer, 
with the edge about twice as long as the poll, and with almost 
the whole Aveight of the axe on one side of the eye — in the blade 
or bit. Some make them with a very heavy poll and a long nar- 
row blade, with no corners to the blade, but almost circular on the 



274 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

edge like an old axe with the corners ground off. It cannot be 
denied that an axe with no corners will enter farther into wood, 
at a given stroke, than one that has corners ; but a man can chop 
much faster with an axe that is almost straight on the edge, than 
with one that is very round on the edge. The reason for this is, 
a chopper with an axe that is very rounding on the edge makes 
a great deal of mince ; but with an axe that has but little round- 
ing on the edge, he will make but little mince or fine chips. An 
axe of due proportion will measure about five inches from one 
comer of the edge to the other, and about three and a half inches 
the length of the poll, and about eight inches from the crown of 
the poll to the edge A B^ midway between each corner. An 
axe, the poll of which is about two and a half inches long, the 
edge six inches long — and hundreds are made thus — is a very 
poor tool to work with, and an ill-shapen thing. 

THE WEIGHT OF THE AXE 

365. Is a consideration in regard to which choppers often disa- 
gree ; but the majority of them will probably agree in what fol- 
lows. If a chopper is naturally very slow in handhng an axe, 
and is not disposed to exert much strength, he should have an axe 
which weighs from five to eight lbs., according to the strength of 
the chopper. If a chopper strikes very quickly^ and raises his axe 
very quickly, — if he is a man of ordinary strength, he should have 
an axe weighing about four lbs. A chopper will cut off a log 
quicker with a heavy axe than with a light one ; but when he 
comes to handle it all day, he will find he will be able to chop 
quite as much, and with less fatigue, with a four- or five-lb. axe 
than he can with one that weighs six or seven lbs. or more. It 
is better to exert the muscles a little in striking with an axe, than 
it is to exert all the strength in lifting an axe which is heavy 
enough to cut sufiBciently deep at a stroke by its own weight, 

366. Were a chopper to strike twenty blows per minute, he 
would strike twelve thousand blows in ten hours. With an axe 
weighing five lbs., in that time he would raise as high or higher 
than his head, an equivalent to sixty thousand lbs., or thirty tons, 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 275 

— a good day's work aside from chopping. Chopping with a six 
pound axe, he would raise, at the above rate, in ten hours, thirty- 
six tons, of 2,000 lbs. per ton. For trimming the limbs of trees, 
cutting under-brush, and for other light chopping, an axe weigh- 
ing four lbs. is preferable to a heavier one. 

367. Boys should always have hght axes to chop with, lest 
they make poor choppers, soon tire out, and imbibe an ever- 
lasting dread of and disrelish for chopping. 

PUTTING THE AXE IN ORDER. 

368. There are two things of great importance to be kept in 
view when one is putting an axe in order, which are, to have it 
of a shape which will cut the fastest, and chip the best. It may 
be seen, by referring to Edge Tools, (paragraph 543,) that the 
axe cuts with a crushing stroke. Now, if nothing else were re- 
quired of an axe but to cut, it would be wisdom to grind it as thin 
as possible, consistent with strength. But since an axe must chip 
as well as cut, it is important to give it a shape which will not 
only cut fast, but which will chip well. An axe ground very thin 
near the edge, will cut fast and deep at every stroke, but will not 
chip well ; and a very thick axe, with a blunt edge, will chip well, 
but will not cut fast. If an axe is ground very thin, it enters the 
wood so far at a blow that it is apt to stick, especially in soft 
wood. 

369. It is almost impossible to give a correct idea of the prop- 
er shape of an axe, in this respect, on paper; but Fig. 127 will 
give something of an idea. This figure represents a transverse 
section of an axe, at about two inches from the edge. A ridge 
should be formed on the dotted line of the angle of the axe, (see 
Fig. 126, A B,) which should disappear towards the cutting edge, 
and towards the eye of the axe. The object of this ridge is to split 
the chip). From this ridge towards each corner, it should be ground 
of a true taper, with a little swell. 

370. When holding an axe on a grindstone, put the head of 
it in the gain of the Clamp, Fig. 128, which may be made of a 
piece of two-inch plank, about eighteen inches long, and put the 



276 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 



opposite end of the clamp against the abdomen of the workman 
who holds the axe. ' Such a little instrument will be found of 
very great service. In grinding up a new axe, make a gain in the 
end of a rail or scantling, and sit on it when grinding. The cut- 
ting edge at B should never be more than half an inch beyond a 



Fig. 127. 



Fig. 128. 






A TRA^'SVERSE SECTIOV OF THK 

BLADE OR BIT OF A WELL-FOBM- 

KI> CHOPPING AXE, 



A CLAMP FOR HOUDI.NG AN AXK 
WHILE GRINDING IT. 



line drawn from the outside comer Z), to inside corner E. (See 
Fig. 126.) For scoring timber, an axe must be a little circular 
on the edge from D to E. If this edge is very circular, the 
timber will be badly hacked. After grinding, whet the edge with 
a fine gritted oil stone ; and if the sides of the blade could be 
polished on a polishing wheel, it would enter the wood farther at 
a given stroke. (See Oil Stone, paragraph 572.) 



THE AXE HELVE. 

371. In order to chop well and easily, a man must have a 
good helve ; and unless a helve is made of good timber, and of a 
good shape, it will be an awkward tool in tlie hands of a good 
chopper. A helve, in order to be a good one, must not be too 



THE YOUXG farmer's MANUAL. 277 

large, nor too small, at the hilt, nor midway between the hilt 
and the end that holds the axe. It should be made with a good 
hang — or, as some call it, with a good deal of crook — from the 
hilt to the other end. A helve should always be made so that 
the hang will be in the direction of the grain of the wood from 
the bark towards the heart. If a helve is made " slab fashion^''' 
or as our backwoodsmen call it, " bastard fashion^'' with one 
side of the helve towards the heart, and one side towards the 
bark, it wiU soon spring so as to be a worthless thing to chop 
with. If the hilt be too large, or too small, or of an improper 
shape, it will surely cramp and blister the hand. It should not 
be made round, but of an oval or elliptical shape. Without a 
good hang and an oval shape, it will be impossible to strike true. 
(See Hang, in next vol.) Some men, who know nothing 
about chopping, contend that if a man is accustomed to chop 
with a straight stick, he could chop as well as he could with a 
helve having a good hang. But no good chopper will ever make 
such an assertion. When a helve is round, an axe may turn 
half way round in the hands, and not be perceived by the chop- 
per ; but when it is of an oval shape, and has a good hang in 
chopping, an axe will adjust itself; and a little deviation will 
readily be perceived by the accustomed hand. (See Par. 331.) 
One who chops much with a straight helve, or with one that has 
a hilt too large or too small for his hand, is very liable to com- 
plain of lame hands and of lame wrists ; and that he is not able 
to strike twice in one place. If a man has a very small hand, 
his axe helve should be correspondingly small ; and vice versa. 

372. Helves that are made by machinery, when they are made 
of good timber, with straight grain, and the right way of the 
grain, are usually superior to those which are made b}' hand ; 
unless those made by hand are made by one who understands 
the business extremely well. It is a very difficult task for some 
good mechanics to make a good axe helve until they have prac- 
tised by making a number of helves ; and some never can, with 
ever so much practice, succeed in giving a helve the most correct 
hang and shape at the hilt, and at other parts of it. But if the 



278 THE YOUNG FARMEK's MANUAL. 

tyro be favored with a little ingenuity, the following directions, 
with a Httle practice, will enable him to make a very good helve. 

HOW TO MAKE AN AXE HELVE. 

373. Fig. 129 represents an axe-helve pattern of a very good 
shape. From a to & is two feet eight inches. This is too long 
for some men. If a pattern cannot be obtained from a helve 
having a good shape, a pattern can be made in a few minutes of 
the desired shape, out of a piece of thin board, as shown by the 

Fig. 129. 



D 

AXE HELVE PATTEKN, 

dotted lines. At a let it be made not less than three inches 
wide, and at I about two and a half inches wide. At c, about 
six inches from the end, near <x, make a pencil mark for tlie 
most prominent point. At D make another mark, about two- 
thirds of the distance from a to h. At E make another mark, 
six or seven inches from I. Now, with a pencil, mark out the 
shape, like the figure, as nearly as possible ; and then cut it out 
very exact and true. The dotted lines at a will show how 
much of the upper corner should be cut away in order to give 
the hilt a good shape. 

374. Now, rive out a piece of tough hickory, and dress it 
with an axe or circular saw, four square, and as thick at the 
large end as the hilt, and wide enough to admit of marking out 
a helve with a pencil by the pattern. Now, with the draw- 
ing-knife, smoothing plane, spoke shave, and rasp, dress it down 
to an oval shape. This oval form should extend entirely through 
the hilt. Avoid a round hilt; because with a round hilt the best 
choppers cannot keep the axe in the correct position, with- 
out grasping the hilt so firmly that the muscles of the hand 
will soon be cramped. Avoid, also, making the edges of the 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 279 

helve too sharp ; and avoid a very la7'ge hilt Such a hilt 
is sure to cramp the hand, and make a man's wrist lame, 
and the fingers stiff. Always lay the pattern on the stick, 
so that the part at c E will be towards the hark, and the 
part at D towards the heart of the tree. Then, if the helve 
should spring, it would spring with the curve, which will make 
an axe hang still better ; whereas, should it spring sideways, it 
would be a worthless thing to chop with. (See Springing of 
Timber, in next vol.) Endeavor to make a hilt that will work 
easily in the hand, and not one so short and sharply curved that 
the third and the little fingers liold the axe, while the Jirst and 
second fingers do nothing. A longish hilt is most desirable ; 
because it never cramps the hand in chopping. Fig. 126 is an 
exact representation of helves made by the author, which have 
been pronounced by some of the best choppers in the Empire 
State to be exactly right in every particular. 

HANGING THE CHOPPING AXE 

375. Is a piece of labor which requires no little skill to perform 
correctly ; and if it is not correctly done an axe will not work 
well. Good choppers usually know when an axe is correctly 
hung ; but a great many excellent choppers cannot hang an axe 
correctly. And when an axe hangs wrong, or " bad," as chop- 
pers say, it is impossible to chop well. 

376. The RULE for hanging an axe upon the most approved 
mechanical principles is, to have it so fastened on the helve that tJie 
edge will range exactly in the direction of the centre of the hilt, and 
that the hilt, the centre of the eye, and the centre of the blade, will he 
at right angles. By consulting Fig. 126, it will be seen by the 
dotted hues, showing the angle of the aoce, that this line cuts the 
hilt, the centre of the eye, and the centre of the blade. When 
the eye of an axe is crooked, or not in range with the edge, which 
is often the case with even good axes, the edge may be made to 
stand in range with the hilt of the helve, by wedging the axe on 
one side of the centre of the helve. When the eye is true we 
insert a wedge in the centre of the eye, splitting tlie helve in the 

12* 



280 TIE YOUNG farmer's MANUAL. 

centre ; but when the eye is one-sided, by spHtting the end d 
the helve on one side of the centre, and inserting a wedge one 
side of the centre of the eye, the edge may be adjusted with al 
desirable precision. If, when the helve is driven into the eye, it 
should not touch on one side, and the edge stand correctly, it is 
best not to split the end of the helve in wedging, but to wedge 
on one side, with timber as hard as the helve. Have a thin, iron 
wedge made to fasten on the axe, with a large flat head i\iz.i will 
cover the eye of the axe. This may be readily taken out in case 
of a broken axe or helve, when a wooden wedge could not be 
extracted. 



CHOPPING. 

« The sturdy feller, with his glittering axe, 
Incessant plies the well-directed blows."— Anon. 



^ 



377. "Why can one man chop so much faster and neater than 
another? Why can a very small man, possessing but little 
strength, often chop twice as much as some large, strong, Goliah- 
like fellow ? The reason is very obvious : it requires but little 
strength to chop well, and to chop fast, when a chopper handles 
his axe well and easily, and strikes as straight as may be, losing 
no strokes. But when a chopper handles his axe awkwardly — 
be he ever so stout — he is not hkely to strike very straightly ; 
and if he does not strike exactly in the same spot at every blow, 
he loses his strokes ; and when he loses his strokes, and makes 
a great deal of mince, or fine chips, before he is able to bring 
out the chips, it requires many more strokes to start the chips 
than when there is but little or no mince made. A good chop- 
per makes but little mince, and he always strikes so as to start a 
chip at nearly every stroke. The first thing, then, in order to 
be a good chopper, is, to learn 

TO HANDLE THE AXE CORRECTLY. 

378. "When a chopper stands on a log which he designs to 
cut ofiF with the axe, he should stand erect, straighten his back at 
every stroke, and, with one hand holding the hilt of the helve. 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 281 

the other should grasp the helve eight or ten inches from the 
axe ; bring the axe right up before the face, and thrust it up into 
the air as high as he can reach easily, letting the hand that held 
the middle of the helve slip down against the other hand as the 
axe rises. Now, the eye of the chopper should be fixed on the 
spot where he wishes to strike. Now strike straightly, and 
always look to the place where the axe cuts, looking between the 
arms, and not on one side of the arms. Let the arms be as 
limber and elastic as a leathern strap, but keep the hand that 
holds the hilt of the helve firmly grasped, so as to keep the axe 
in just such a position as it is in when it comes down. 

379. Some choppers, in lifting their axe, give it a side swing, 
bringing it round near one shoulder ; and some thrust it out for- 
ward of them, and raise it up before them, with arms as stiff as a 
stake, to an angle of about forty-five degrees, before striking. But 
such are very awkward, feminine and inefficient ways of hand- 
ling an axe. 

Another consideration of great importance in chopping is, 

THE SHAPE OF THE KERF, OR CHIP. 

380. Fig. 130 represents a log cut off with an axe. At A the 

-pij^ |OQ kerf, or chip, is shaped hadly, 

and at B it has a good shape. 
The RULE, among good chop- 
pers, for the length of the out- 
side chip, usually is, not less in 
length than the diameter of the 
log. Then, as we chip deeper 
into the log, the cut should be more square across it, so that the 
ends that have been cut off will be circular, as at B. If a log be 
two feet in diameter, commence a chip, to take a log half off, 
two feet long. The tyro may then trace the shape of the kerf, 
with his axe, on the bark, until he can form a good kerf hy the 
eye. In cleaving the outside chips, let three or four inches of the 
ends be cut off square, and it will be seen that a stroke of thq 
axe will start a chip the end of which is square, w^en several 




282 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

blows would have but little effect if the end were not cut off 
square. He who would be a good chopper must learn to strike 
straight^ and not strike too quick^ lest his strength fail, nor too slow^ 
lest suitable progress be not made, and he must learn to shape 
his kerfs like B in the figure. 

FELLING TBEES WITH AN AXE. 

" Loud sounds the axe, redoubling strokes on strokes ; 
On all sides round the forest hurls her oaks 
Headlong. Deep-echoing groan the thickets brown ; 
Then rustling, crackling, crashing, thunder down." 

381. The first and most important consideration, when we 
have concluded to fell a tree, is, to decide which way it will fall 
most advantageously. When a tree stands perpendicularly, it 
may be felled just which way we choose. If, for instance, we 
wish to fell a tree to the north, let the north side be cut a little 
more than half off, and three or four inches loiver than the south 
side, and it will surely fall towards the north, unless the wind is 
contrary. A tree that stands perpendicularly will always fall in 
the direction which the chips fly when it is being cut down. A 
tree will fall usually on that side of the stump which is cut the 
lowest. When a tree is large and valuable for timber, if a chop- 
per does not understand felling trees, he is very liable oftentimes 
to damage a tree very much, and for some purposes spoil it en- 
tirely. Large trees, especially very tough timber, are very apt 
to split^ shiver and check at the butt when falling, if they are not 
cut correctly. 

382. We have often seen valuable trees split at the butt six 
or eight feet when falling ; and sometimes splinters six or eight 
feet long are drawn out of the butt of the tree, and stand erect 
on the stump, damaging a tree very much. 

383. A tree for timber should be cut as low as possible, as one 
foot in length of the hutt of a tree is worth, in many instances, m 
four times the cost of cutting down the tree ; and each side should 

be cut square across, and not diagonally, with one side slanting 
one way, and the other side in an opposite direction. It is just 



THE YOUNG farmer's MANUAL. 283 

as easy, and far better for many reasons, to cut trees low than to 
cut them high. Let a chopper keep the hand that holds the hilt of 
the axehelve well down, (the length of the arm,) and bend his back 
a little — it will not injure him — and he will soon get accustomed 
to cutting trees low and square across. In order to save timber, 
the kerf should be more straight inward than it is in chopping off 
a log. It will require a little more time and strength to cut down 
a tree with a short chip ; but, where timber is valuable, the 
amount saved by a short kerf more than compensates for the 
extra time in cutting down. When one is cutting down a large 
tree, and there is any apprehensions of its sphtting at the butt, 
and the tree is cut off within eight or ten inches, the heart of the 
tree should all be cut o^ first, letting it stand as long as it will 
on a portion of the sap part of the tree. 

384. My practice, in cutting down a valuable tree, is, to set 
two long braces against it, one on each side, in the direction 
where we intend to fell it, and brace it firmly until the tree can 
be cut entirely off. Then knock away one of the braces, and the 
tree may be made to go Avhichever way we choose to have it. 

385. When trees lean, they should never be cut to fall in the 
direction they lean, because they will surely split or damage in 
some way. 

386. Suppose, for instance, a tree stands near a precipice, and 
leans a little towards it, it may be made to fall in any direction 
we desire, by attaching a rope and tackles to it and fastening to 
another tree, or to a post set firmly in the ground, and then hitch- 
ing a team to the slack rope, when the tree is nearly ready to 
fall. When a valuable tree is to be cut, when standing on an 
eminence, never allow it to fall down hill, but always up hill, or 
along the slope. 

SAWING DOWN TREES. 

387. Sometimes trees may be sawed down to good advan- 
tage. Before using a saw, however, for sawing down a tree, 
a kerf a few inches deep should be cut with the axe, so as to 



284 THE YOUNG FAEMER's MANUAL. 

steady tlie saw. Let a tree be sawed about half off on one side, 
in the direction it is designed to fall the tree ; and then saw on 
the opposite side, and drive wedges into the kerf as fast as the 
saw goes in, to keep the tree from swaying and pinching the 
saw, and from falling in a wrong direction. If a tree be large, 
three wedges should be driven in ; and the saw should be worked 
straight across the tree, and not all round it, lest it fall to one 
side and break the saw. 

388. Let the tyro remember, before a large tree is felled, to 
take the team and haul three or four small logs or sticks of tim- 
ber, fifteen or twenty feet long, for the tree to fall on. Never 
trust to a few rails, or a little pole or two ; for a heavy tree will 
surely crush or bury such trash in the ground ; and then, before 
the tree can be sawed or worked up, there must be tugging and 
prying^ and time enough spent very disadvantageously, to have 
got the team and hauled a score of logs for a tree to fall on. 
Let trees be kept up well from the ground ; because it is far 
easier to let logs doiun than it is to raise them a few inches after 
a tree has fallen. When a chain cannot be put under a log to 
roll it over, hitch the grapple-hook to it. (See Fig. 72. — See 
How TO Handle a Cross-cut Saw, Par. 648.) 



CHAPTEE IV. 



FENCE LAWS. 



389. Our civil law m relation to fences, which appears to be 
founded on principles of strictest equity, provides, that where land 
is enclosed, and lies contiguous, and possessed by two different 
owners, each one must build and maintain a good lawful fence on 
one half the distance of the entire line between their land. 
According to law, A may not build his half of the line fence 
exactly on the line ; neither may B. But each must erect his 
fence on his own land, as near to the Hne as he desires. But 
neighbors usually erect their line fences exactly on the line ; while 
waspish owners place them as they choose. 

390. If A refuses to build or to maintain one equal half of a 
line fence between his land and the land owned by B, by giving 
A thirty days' legal notice that he must build or repair his line 
fence, and A neglects so to do, B may build or repair such fence, 
and collect of A the expense of building the same as for any other 
indebtedness. 

391. If A has land not enclosed, or "open to the commons," 
which lies contiguous to the land of B, if B desires to have his 
land enclosed, he must build all the fence between them. But 
after B has enclosed his land, if A should then enclose his, he 
cannot hold one half of the line fence. He must allow B to 
remove one-half of the fence ; and he (A) must build a fence in 
the room of it ; or he may purchase one-half of it. If he refuses 
to do either, B, the owner of the fence, may prosecute A and 
recover pay for half of the line fence. 

392. B may not, in a fit of resentment or frenzy, remove his 

(285) 



286 THE YOUNG FAKMER's MANUAL. 

division fence, and throw open his own fields to the commons 
with impunity, unless he give A ten days' notice of his inten- 
tion to throw open his fields to the commons, between Novem- 
ber and April. During the time from April to November, if a 
line fence is removed by A, and B is made to sustain any loss 
by such removal, A is responsible for the damage. 

WHAT IS A LAWFUL FENCE? 

393. There are three very important considerations which 
constitute a lawful fence : viz., height^ strength or suhstantiability^ 
and tightness. When a fence is four feet six inches high, and 
made according to the various styles of fence laid down in Chap- 
ter II, and built of good materials, our civil law would hold the 
proprietor of any animals that would get over it or through it, 
accountable for any damage which they might do. A fence that 
is three feet six inches high, might he, under certain circumstances, 
very lawful. Sheep and swine that would get over or through, 
by demolishing a substantial fence three feet six inches high, 
would be considered as unruly animals ; and their proprietor 
would be held accountable for any damage done by them. 

394. I have failed to bring out in the chapter on fences, uncle 
WilVs lawful fence, which he testified in court was " a lawful^ 
huncombe fence ;" " it was horse high — lull strong — and pig tight." 



CHAPTEK Y. 

UNDERDRAINING. 

" Each bog and marsh industriously drain, 

Nor let vile ponds deface the beauteous plain." — Anon. 

395. Notwithstanding there has been so much written on the 
subject of underdraining with tile, stone, and wood, writers on 
this subject have failed to bring out, with their suggestions and 
directions for draining, many things which I consider of very 
great importance, and which all good practical ditchers consider 
of greater importance than almost any other part of draining. 
There have been volumes written on draining which appear very 
plausible while reading them, to those who have had but little 
experience in thorough draining, but which in reality, instead of 
imparting the desired information to the young farmer, mislead 
him. It is attended with no embarrassments to pen a good chap- 
ter on draining, and to give diagrams of ditches, and to direct 
how deep they should be cut, and with what materials they 
should be filled. But let a beginner take the tools, and attempt 
to follow up the directions which have been laid down by writers 
on draining ; and if he does not meet with some almost insuper- 
able embarrassments, he will be an exception to the general rule. 
Making a long drain in a manner to subserve the best purpose, 
is a job which is not to be performed every year ; but it should 
be done so that it will work well for a life-time. A long drain 
may be made in the best manner throughout its entire length, 
with the exception of a few inches near the outlet, which will 
render all that lies above it nearly or quite worthless. Drains 
are often rendered worthless by having been improperly dug, or 
by having been filled with poor materials, or by the improper 

(287) 



288 THE rouNa farmer's manual. 

arrangement and disposition of good materials. If a drain is 
made of good materials, and those materials are properly dis- 
posed of, we may safely calculate that it will work well for ages 
to come, without any repairing. 

396. The first consideration in draining wet land is, to ascer- 
tain with certainty from whence the water which renders a soil 
too wet comes. Land is often made too wet for cultivation by 
the superabundant water coming out of the earth, or by its being 
retained by a retentive subsoil. Where a very thin super soil 
lies on a very retentive subsoil, water wiU often collect in ponds 
in low places ; and so long a time will be required before it will 
disappear, that a crop would be about destroyed. In this case, 
if the young farmer desires to drain only such low, wet places, a 
good drain may be run directly through them. But if his aim is 
to drain the entire field in the most thorough manner, drains paral- 
lel to each other, about two rods apart, should be made across 
the field, up and down the slope, if the surface of the field is in- 
clined, all of them intersecting with one large drain. Some- 
times the most proper place for the main drain will be across the 
middle of a field. But it is a minor consideration, where the 
water is turned, if a drain is properly made, and has a good out- 
let. "When a low place is rendered very wet by water arising 
from springs, a drain entirely around it, between the wet ground 
and the dry ground, will cut off the source of the water ; and 
if the bottom of the drain is lower than the lowest place in the 
pond-hole, it will be well drained ; otherwise, a drain should be 
cut through the lowest place, and then around the outside of it. 

397. When the surface of a field that lies sloping is too wet 
in places over the entire field, the most approved manner of 
draining it is, to cut the ditches up and down the slope, from thirty 
to forty feet apart. Then, if a spring of water should happen to 
be near the middle of two drains, which the main drains did not 
seem to affect, a branch drain should be made, diagonally, above 
the wet ground, two-thirds of the distance across the space be- 
tween two drains. In cutting off the water from springs, it 
should always be borne in mind that the most proper place for a 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 289 

drain is — in order to be most effectual above the wet ground — ^be- 
tween the wet ground and the dry. The slope of the field must 
determine how far above the wet ground the drain should be 
made. If the surface of the ground slope about six inches in a 
rod, the drain should be made not less than forty or fifty feet 
above the wet ground. The idea is, to have the diagonal drain 
far enough above the wet ground to cut off the veins of water 
which render the ground wet, so that they will be near the bottom 
of the drain. 

398. There are veins of water all through the earth in most 
localities ; and if a drain intersects any of these veins, the water 
flowing from them will find its way to the bottom of the drain, 
even if the drain should be filled with clay, well rammed in. But 
if the drain is not deep enough to reach a vein, the water in it 
will flow on, and come out at the surface, as it always has done, 
and the drain will be of little benefit. Sloping fields, which lie 
below large bodies of standing wood, or below large tracts of 
swamps or wet land, are very liable to be so wet as to need 
thorough draining ; whereas, if the woods above them were re- 
moved, or the wet ground alluded to were well drained, those 
sloping fields would be sufficiently dry, in some instances, without 
drains. In such instances the water from above may, many times, 
be cut off by running a deep drain along the upper side of the 
field, to receive the water as it finds its way from the up land, and 
spreads over the fields below. One of the fields on ray present 
farm slopes to the west about six inches per rod. About one- 
fourth of a mile above it was a tract of wet, swampy land, which 
was supposed to be the source of the numerous veins of water 
which out-cropped in this sloping field. The sloping field has 
been drained ; and before the swamp above was drained, the 
drains in that sloping field emitted an abundance of good water, 
as long as there was water in the swamp. But now that the 
swamp has been drained, the water in those drains in the sloping 
field fails early in the season, showing very conclusively that the 
source of the water has failed. 

399. Sometimes mill-races or canals are cut along hills, and the 



290 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

water from them percolates through the bank, rendering a large 
tract of the land below the water very wet during the whole 
growing season. Now, if a deep drain is made along the race or 
canal, it will cut off the water that would render the soil too wet 
for cultivation. If, after one drain has been made for such a pur- 
pose, some of the water passes under the first drain, and renders 
the soil wet several rods below it, another drain nearly parallel 
with the first will effectually cut off all that would otherwise pass 
on and render the soil wet. 

400. The young farmer need have no apprehension that he may 
cut a drain in some places where it will injure the soil by draining 
it too much. There is but little danger of draining a field so much 
as to injure it. Most soils operate like a sponge in retaining 
water. If deep drains were made at a distance of every ten feet 
across our driest fields, they would retain all the water, as it feU 
in rain, that is necessary to sustain healthy vegetation ; and they 
would be henefited rather than injured by such a system of thor- 
ough draining. I pen these suggestions to show that if the 
young farmer should cut a drain in one place, and it should fail to 
drain the soil tlioroughly on both sides of it, he need not fear to 
cut another drain, even within a few feet of the first one. Now 
that the most proper place is chosen for drains, and the stakes 
stuck for it, the next consideration which is of great importance is, 

THE MANNER OF CUTTING DRAINS. 

401. The young farmer will, very frequently, be so fortunate 
as to have in his employ some piece of stupid intelligence who 
professes to know more about thorough draining than all the 
world besides, and who will insist that a drain must be cut here 
or ihere^ and that a given depth, wJiich he may mention, is infi- 
nitely better than any other depth ; and that he can excel any 
other man in laying out, cutting, and stoning or tiling a drain. 
But the truth is, too frequently, with such knowing ones, tliat 
they, in reality, know about as much as juvenile school -boys. 
There can be no impropriety in giving such knowing ones a hear- 
ing ; but the beginner should consult some farmers who have liad 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 291 

no little experience in underdraining, and read attentively all that 
has been written on the subject, and then bring all the common 
sense that is in his possession to bear on the subject. 

402. It is a consideration of very little consequence how rough 
and uneven the sides of a drain are, providing the bottom is made 
true. Therefore, when a drain is to be cut without the aid of a 
regular Ditching Machine, in order to facilitate and economize 
the expense of cutting it, if the soil is in sod, plow a furrow 
where the drain is to be made, about six inches deep, and 
then cut another furrow about six inches wide, very straight, 
and throw it beyond the first furrow, either with the plow 
or with manure hooks. Now drive back to the other end, 
and plow the subsoil as deep as is convenient, by going twice 
in the same place. Now shovel out the loose dirt, and plow 
again. By hitching the team two or three feet further from the 
plow, with a chain, than they are hitched for ordinary plowing, a 
ditch can be plowed two feet deep with a common plow. A 
strong double team and Michigan Sod Plow is much better than 
a single team. After the dirt has been shovelled out, if the drain 
is to be a small one, have a very long yoke for oxen, or long 
whippletree or evener for horses, and loosen up the dirt with a 

Fig. n^. 




MILTOX ALDEN'S DITCHIXG PLOW, AUHIRX, X. T. 

Sub-Soil Plow, or with a Ditching Plow, shown at Fig. 130-|, 
which is a most efficient and superior tool, and can be obtained 
of the inventor, Milton Alden, Auburn, N. Y.* When the ditch 

* Since this chapter ou Draining was written,]^!. Alden, Auburn, X. Y., has made a 
great improvement in ditching plows. His improved plow is made with two standards and 
two points. One standard is bolted to one side of the beam, as in the Fig. of the single 
stiindard plow on this page, and the other standard is bolted to a block, which block is 



292 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAU 

is sufficiently wide for a horse to walk in, let one or two be hitched 
before it, ad tandem^ or one before the other. The bottom of a 
ditch is a very difficult place for a horse to walk in ; consequently 
a man should steady him, walking by his side, with one hand 
hold of the back-band to keep him balanced, — or in a narrow 
ditch a horse will lose his balance so often, by hitting his legs and 
feet against the sides of the ditch, that he will fall over sideways 
so frequently, he will become afraid to move. A horse cannot 
walk in a channel which is barely wide enough for a man to 
walk in. 

GRADING THE BOTTOM OF A DITCH. 

403. Any one can work at ditching until he comes to the bottom ; 
but not one ditcher in fifty, that I have ever seen, knows how to 
grade the bottom correctly, or dig it across the bottom in the 
most correct form. The bottom of a ditch, from the outlet to the 
head, should be of a straight uniform grade all the way. The 
bottom should not be level for a few rods, and then ascend a few 
rods, and then be of a water level for a number of rods farther, 
and then ascend, and so on to the head of it, as they are usually 
dug. The idea is, to have the bottom of such an inclination that 
water will flow at the same velocity through every part of the 



bolted to one side of the beam of the plow. The arrangement is such, that the plow will 
cut a ditch six, eight, ten, or twelve inches wide. Instead of being drawn by a chain or 
clevis attached to the end of the beam, it is drawn by a tongue, the end of which is 
fastened to the upper side of the beam, near the middle of it, and plays up and down in a 
tongue guide, which is bolted to the end of the beam. The handles are adjustable, to 
enable the man who holds it to walk nearly erect, even when the plow is in a ditch two 
feet deep. 

The advantages of this plow over others are, it will run more steadily with a tongue 
than without a tongue. With two standards and two points, a ditch is easily kept of a 
uniform width, without any difficulty ; and with two points a vast amount of labor in 
dressing off the sides of a ditch is saved ; and the corners of the bottom are dug out much 
better than they can be with an ordinary plow ; and by having the team hitched to a 
tongue, the plowman can prevent the plow from running too deep in soft places ; and he 
will be able to lift it from a ditch much easier than he can without a tongue. Every part 
is made strong and durable ; and the plow is a valuable improvement. It will work well 
where any other ditching plow will work, and will always do better work than one having 
but one standard. 



THE YOUNG FARMEK's MANUAL. 



293 



drain. In order to do this correctly, a ditcher must have a me- 
chanical eye — an eye that can, at a glance, detect a depression or 
an elevation at any point in the bottom of a ditch. If a ditch is 
cut where there is but little descent or fall, and the bottom is not 
as straight as a mathematical line, but is sunk an inch too deep 
here, and a httle farther on two inches deeper than the line of a 
true grade, water will not run out freely ; but the current will be 
so slow in these level places that in a few years the calibre of 
small tile will be completely jfilled up with sediment. But if 
there is a little inchnation all the way, and the inclination is of a 
true grade, there will be no chance for sediment to lodge and to 
collect. "Whether a ditch is to be filled with tile, stone, or wood, 
the bottom should be of a true grade. Some men may dig ditches 
all their lives, and they cannot grade the bottom of a ditch just as 
it should be, in a difficult place. It is more important to have the 
bottom of a ditch very true, where very small tile is to be laid, 
than it is where large tile is to be used. 

404. The accompanying Fig., 131, will give the young farmer 

Fig. 131. 




CX)RKECr MANNER OF GRADING THK BOTTOM OF A DITCH. 



a more correct idea of the proper manner of grading the bot- 
tom of a ditch, a a represents the surface of the ground. The 
line h h, nearly parallel with the surface, shows the common mode 
of grading the bottom of a ditch, up a slope. The straight line 
c c represents the most approved manner of grading the bottom of 
a ditch. A. ditcher who possesses little or no mechanical skill, 
will be puzzled some to grade the bottom just as it should be ; 
but if he cannot make calculations about at what point to com- 



294 THE \uujsra farmer's manual. 

mence digging a Utile deeper^ and about how deep he must sink 
the bottom at the highest point on the surface, and about how 
far he must dig before he runs out, he had better resort to stakes. 
Stick a stake at the outlet and one at the head of the ditch after 
it has been dug, like the line h h, allowing them to be say four 
feet high. Now at the highest places, JE E, set up stakes four 
feet high, and then look over the tops of them ; and dig a hole in 
the bottom of the ditch at E E, until the tops of the stakes at 
E E will be in a line with those at the outlet and head of the 
ditch. The ditcher should bring his head down in the ditch as 
near the bottom as is convenient, when he will be able to discover 
any depression or elevation in the bottom, as far as the eye can 
distinguish. 

405. When a ditch is to be filled with stone, if there is to be a 
throat made in the bottom, the young farmer should make calcu- 
lations about how large a throat will be necessary, and about how 
large will be the average size of the side stones. In this case the 
corners of the ditch should be well dressed out, and the middle 
dug about an inch the lowest, as shown by Fig. 133. (See 
Par. 416.) The object of having the middle of the ditch the 
lowest is, to keep the water from forming a channel between the 
side-stones and the bank; which would be liable to displace the 
stone, and thus form an obstruction in the drain. When the 
corners are not well dug out in the bottom of a ditch, it is much 
more -difficult to stone it in a complete manner. There is no 
necessity for digging out the comers of the bottom of a ditch for 
tile, unless tile of the largest size is to be used, or two rows of 
tile, as shown by Fig. 132, in which case the bottom should be 
hollowed out, as shown in the figure. 

DEPTH AND SIZE OF DRAINS. 

406. It is totally impracticable for any individual to tell where 
a drain should be cut, or how deep or how wide drains should be 
made, without going on the ground during a wet, and sometimes 
a dry part of the season, and examining the sources of the surplus 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 295 

water and the inclination of the ground where a drain is thought 
|p be needed. The young farmer should never be satisfied with 
a drain that is not thirty inches deep ; and the instances are very 
rare where it would not be better to cut it thirty inches than less 
than that depth. In some places it may be allowable, and drain 
the soil well, to put small tile in a ditch only two feet deep. 
But for large tile, and particularly for stone, a ditch should never 
be less than thirty inches deep. Drains that are thirty inches 
deep will be just as effectual in drying some fields as if they were 
three or four feet deep. On the contrary, drains only thirty inches 
deep in some fields would not be half as effectual in draining the 
land as they would if they were forty or fifty inches in depth. In 
some places it will be necessary to sink the ditches four feet deep 
in order to "get the water," or to reach the veins. But when 
the water veins are reached at the depth of thirty inches, it will 
be incurring a bill of useless expense to sink the ditclies deeper 
than that depth. It is no detriment nor disadvantage to land to 
have the drains four feet deep ; because water will percolate into 
a deep drain about as soon as it will into a shallow drain twenty- 
five or thirty inches in depth. When land is drained to cut 
off the water arising from springs, as a general rule the drains 
need to be deeper than they do where the surplus water does not 
arise from springs. 

407. When a drain is to receive a single row of tile, if the 
ditch is cut barely wide enough to admit them it will be just as 
well as if it were a foot wide. When the ditches are to be cut 
three or four feet deep, they must necessarily be wide enough for 
a man to work in without being cramped for want of space. The 
narrower a ditch is, of course the less earth there will be to dig 
up and shovel out. When a ditch is to receive tile not more than 
five inches wide, and is to be dug not more than three feet deep, 
it may be about ten inches wide at the top and five inches wide 
at the bottom. A man cannot work conveniently in a ditch 
smaller than this size. When a ditch is to be filled with stone, 
calculations should first be made how large will be the stream of 
water, and how much space the stone will occupy. A stoned 
13 



296 THE YOUNG FAKMER'S MANUAL. 

drain with a large throat should never he less than three feet 
deep. The larger the throat is, the deeper a drain ought alwajis 
to be made ; because the wider the space of the throat the more 
liable a drain is to become obstructed by the dirt caving in. ■ 
Throats that are much deeper than their width are less liable to ■ 
become obstructed than those are which are wider than their depth. 
Tile, the calibre of which is twice as deep as it is wide, will dis- 
charge water with greater rapidity than those will having round, 
or half round calibre. (See Manufacturing Tile, 436.) 



HOW TO DETERMINE THE PROPER DEPTH FOR DRAINS. 



^1 



408. A man who has had a good share of experience in under- 
draining will be able to conjecture, in most instances, about how 
deep ditches should be cut in order to operate most effectually. 
But the correct and sure way is, to " cut and try." Let the 
ditches be cut about thirty or thirty-six inches in depth, not in a 
very wet time, nor in a very dry time. Now, if by digging 
thirty inches deep most of the veins of water seem to be cut off, 
and but little bubbles up from the bottom of the ditch, it is use- 
less to dig deeper. When it is very evident that a field needs 
draining, and ditches have been cut thirty inches deep, and no 
veins of water are reached, it is very conclusive evidence that the 
ditches should be sunk deeper. Again : when ditches have been 
cut thirty inches deep, and most of the water issues from the sides, 
and but httle or none bubbles up in the bottom, there will be no 
necessity of sinking them deeper for the sole purpose of cutting 
off the veins of water. It is no uncommon occurrence to see 
about all the water that has been the cause of rendering the soil 
wet, flow into a ditch at twenty or twenty -five inches from the 
surface of the ground, at .the sides of the ditch. When such is 
the case, the expense of sinking a ditch more than thirty inches 
^eep — except for the purpose of securing a bottom with a true 
grade, or for large tile (see Fig. 132) — would be entirely useless. 
When a ditch has been sunk thirty inches deep, and the subsoil 
appears to be full of water, and but httle water flows into the 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 297 

ditch, and most of that bubbles up in the bottom, there is certain 
evidence that it should be sunk from six to twelve, or perhaps 
twenty inches deeper. When the soil is too wet to plow, a ditch 
thirty inches deep will often send out a stream of water sufficiently 
large to fill tile having an inch and a half calibre. But when 
that soil is dry enough to plow, and such a stream of water can 
be obtained in a ditch of twenty rods in length, it will drain the 
ground for a rod or more on each side of it. But when there is 
an abundance of springs, in some localities there will be four 
times as much water collected in a given distance as there would 
be in some others. But it is utterly impossible to give perfect 
directions for draining every place or field, without having a man 
of some experience on the ground to examine the ditches, either 
after they are dug or while the digging is going on. An engineer 
may give directions for draining a field, with the assurance that 
if the ditches are sunk three and a half or four feet deep it will 
be thoroughly drained ; when, at the same time, if he were on the 
ground when the digging of the ditches was in progress, he would 
decide, without hesitancy, that it would be useless to dig the 
ditches over thirty or thirty-five inches deep, to collect about all 
the water that would be collected were they sunk twelve or 
twenty inches deeper. I would by no means advocate the prac- 
tice of attempting to drain land with drains less than thirty inches 
deep, even where a drain two feet deep would collect just as 
much water as a deeper one. But when drains thirty inches 
deep will subserve as good purpose as deeper ones, there can be 
no plausible reason assigned why they should be sunk deeper. 
At the depth of thirty inches frost will never afiect them, nor the 
subsoil plow derange any portion of them so as to obstruct the 
water passages. I refer more particularly to small drains, where 
there is but little water. 

MANNER. OF FILLING DRAINS. 

409. The sooner drains are filled after they have been finished, 
the better ; and, in some instances, it will be very necessary to 
make the passage for the water as soon as practicable after the 



298 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

ditches have been dug, on account of the liability of the sides to 
cave in. Ditches ought not to be left unfilled during the sum- 
mer, so that cattle and sheep will be jumping across them, for 
they will be very liable to fall into them ; and if they do not 
slip in, and carry a portion of the bank with them, they will 
often tread up the bottom so that it wiU require more labor to 
prepare it again for the tile than most men are aware of 

410. Before a ditch is filled, if the young farmer does not 
know positively that water will flow freely from the head to the 
foot of a ditch, the fact should be ascertained without delay. 
"When there is but little fall, it is the easiest thing in the whole 
science of under draining, to be greatly deceived with reference to 
the amount of fall. I have seen many instances in which men, 
who affirmed positively that they had not the shadow of a doubt 
that water would flow from the head to the outlet of a ditch, 
were most wofully disappointed when they saw water standing a 
foot deep alove the outlet. No man can determine, simply by 
the eye, whether water will run towards the head or the foot of 
a ditch, when the surface is about level. I have seen men so 
confident that water would run out, that they have stoned their 
ditches and filled them with earth, and afterwards had the very 
unpleasant satisfaction of learning that the outlet of their drain 
was about a foot higher than the middle or the head of it. 

411. As levelling instruments are not always at hand on a 
farm, the most expeditious and most accurate manner for com- 
mon laborers to ascertain whether or not there is sufficient fall in 
a ditch is, to pour a barrel or two of water into it at the head. 
If it will flow onward until it reaches the outlet, we may rest 
assured that water will not stand in it after it has been filled*™ 
"When a ditch is thirty or forty rods in length, it may be neces " ' 
sary to pour in three or four barrels of water, as the earth will 
often absorb one or two in a short distance. It is a good prac- 
tice to grade the bottom of a ditch while there is a small stream 

of water in it, as it can be done much more accurately than it j 
usually is performed when there is no water in it. 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 299 



LAYING TILE IN A DITCH. 

412. This is a part of draining which requires the exercise of 
more good judgment than anything else in making a drain. When 
tile are all very straight and true, and the ends square, if the 
bottom of the ditch is as true as it should be there will be little 
difficulty in laying them in the best manner ; but when some of 
them are crooked, and the ends of many by no means as square 
as they should be, it is often difficult to lay them as well as they 
should be laid. I must condemn the practice, which is too fre- 
quently recommended, of placing the tile in the ditch with a 
tile-hook and staff, while the workman is standing on the surface 
of the ground. In order to lay tile as they should he laid, the 
workman must stand in the ditch. Of course, he will understand 
that, in tiling or stoning a ditch, he should always commence at 
the head of it, so that nothing can flow down and enter the 
water passage. Now, the idea is, to have the calibre of each 
tile placed so that a smooth passage will be formed throughout 
the entire length of the drain. Place the first tile at the upper 
end of the ditch, and stop the upper end with a stone, and stamp 
the tile down firmly with one foot. Now place another to the 
end of it, and stamp it down, so that the ends will exactly corres- 
pond. If a tile is crooked, and is of such a form that it will not 
answer to turn it over in order to make it fit better on the 
ground, or if the middle or one end of it is kept too high by a 
small stone in the bottom of the ditch, I always use a rammer of 
some description, and sink the earth until the tile will lie in the 
most desirable position. Sometimes the ends of one tile will 
pitch down more than the tiles at each end of it. In such a case, 
I use hard dirt, well rammed down, and lay the tile on it and 
stamp it down, or place a thin piece of flat stone under one or 
both ends, to raise it to the desired position. The ends of tile 
are very seldom so square that a dime could not be dropped 



300 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

into the calibre after they have been placed in the ditch, and 
frequently the ends are so untrue, that the upper side of the 
joints will be open from half to three-fourths of an inch. In such 
a case I usually try another tile, or change ends with it, or turn 
it on the side, or upside down. If then I fail to make the ends 
fit as closely as they should, I place a lot of small flat stones 
over and on the sides of the open joint, and then cover the stonea 
with hard dirt with my hands, so that nothing will be displaced 
when the dirt is plowed or shovelled in. A tile that wiU not 
endure hard stamping, for the purpose of sinking it into the dirt, 
is not fit to be laid in a ditch. The aim of the workman should 
always be, in laying tile, to place them in such a manner that 
they will never sink, so that the ends of them will not be uneven 
with each other. If the bottom of a ditch is neatly graded, and 
the tile are very true, an experienced workman will be able to 
lay three thousand, or even more than that number in a day. 
But if tile are crooked, and the ends not true, and the bottom of 
the ditch is full of little stones which must be rammed down to 
a level, a laborer may sometimes labor most faithfully and not 
lay more than one thousand in a day. It is always desirable to 
have the joints between tile so close that there will be barely 
room to receive a knife-blade of ordinary thickness ; but if there 
is, in some places, a space of three-eighths of an inch at the joints 
of tile which have a cahbre of over three inches, any substance 
that would find its way into a joint or space of that size would 
be swept out by the force of the stream of water. When the cal- 
ibre of tile is less than three inches, and there is but little fall in 
the ditch, the workman should be unusually particular in securing 
"a good Jit" at each joint, as the current of water in small tile 
would be so slow, where there is not more than six or eight 
inches fall in one hundred feet, that it would not be very apt to 
carry dirt or very small gravel out of the tile. Some men seem 
to prefer a little channel in the bottom of a ditch, to lay small tile 
in ; but I have always found that with such crooked, untrue tile 
as we are obliged to use, I could secure a better fit at the joints, when 
the bottom of a ditch was about five or six inches wide, with no 
channel in the middle. When very large tile are used, or when 




THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 301 

two rows of tile are laid in one ditcli, with a water- -p,- i qo 
passage between them, as shown by Fig. 132, it is 
best to sink a channel, not more than an inch 
deep, between the tile, for the purpose of prevent- 
ing the water from undermining any of the tile. 
The preceding remarks refer solely to pipe tile. 
But, as many knowing ones will persist in having 
half-round or horse-shoe tile — although I do 
not approve of that form of tile (see paragraph 
438) — I will give directions for 

LAYING HALF-ROUND OR HORSESHOE TILE. 

413. If the young farmer will have horseshoe tile, they should 
always be placed on soles, which are flat pieces of burnt clay, of 
the same length and width as the tile, and not less than half an inch 
thick. These soles are placed firmly in the bottom of a ditch, 
and the tile placed on them so as to break joint near the middle 
of the soles. But both soles and tile are so frequently warped 
and twisted, that there is sufficient room, in some places, between 
the soles and the tile, for meadow mice or moles to enter the 
water-passage and haul in dirt, and thus obstruct the flow of the 
water. Some farmers lay a narrow board or plank in the bottom 
of a ditch, and place a row of horseshoe tile on the boards ; but 
such a practice cannot be denounced too strongly. Boards are 
so liable to decay in places, and thus allow some of the tiles to 
sink below others, that we cannot calculate with certainty that a 
drain will not be obstructed within a few years, when the tile are 
laid on boards. Perhaps most of the boards might last, in the 
bottom of the drain, thirty or forty years ; but if there should be 
only one or two poor places in the boards, an obstruction would 
be formed in a few years. When the bottom of a ditch is very 
hard, large half-round tile may be laid in the bottom, and sub- 
serve a good purpose ; but they should never be placed on 
boards. When the ground is hard they will never sink one- 
eighth of an inch ; but, where they would be liable to sink with- 
out a board under them, soles or sole-tile should be used, but 
boards never. When small horseshoe tiles are laid in a ditch 
with boards, it would be far better to sink a narrow channel in 



302 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

the bottom of the ditch, and place the tile in it, upside down^ and 
cut up the boards into short pieces, and lay them crosswise on the 
row of tile. I should have far more confidence in the durability 
of a drain made in this manner, than if the boards were beneath 
the tile. 

MANNER OF LAYING STONE IN A DITCH. 

414. Anyone can J9^^cA stones into a ditch, and cover them 
■with dirt; but, in order to have a stoned drain carry off the 
water as well as it should, and not become obstructed in the 
water-passage, it is very important to have every stone placed 
just right. The most common cause of obstructions in a stoned 
drain is, the side stones, which, in consequence of not being placed 
most correctly, fall over into the middle of the water-passage, or the 
stream forms a channel between the side stones and the sides of 
the drain, and thus displaces the stones. As stones of almost 
every form and size must be worked in when the throat is laid, 
a laborer needs much judgment and skill to place every one in 
such a manner that it will not be displaced. 

415. Writers on draining with stone, in years past, recom- 
mended breaking the stone as small as the size of a hen's egg for 
filling ditches, and, also, to have ditches filled with stone to a 
point within about one foot of the surface of the ground. But 
the observation and experience of our most successful farmers, 
who have used stone for filling their ditches, have induced them 
to come to the deliberate conclusion that drains are but little, if 
any, more effectual in draining the land, when they are filled with 
small stone one foot above the throat, than they are when 
nothing but a throat is made of stone, well chinked with small 
stone. The expense of digging ditches three feet deep, and of 
laying a good throat in them for the water, is quite as large as 
most farmers are wiUing to incur, without incurring the additional 
and useless expense of breaking a large lot of stone into small 
pieces. Any one who knows anything about breaking stone 
in very small pieces, knows, that it is a very laborious and ex- 
pensive job. As a good throat is all that is necessary in a ditch, 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 803 

and as drains are less liable to become obstructed in tbe water 
passage when there is only a throat than they are when small 
stones a foot or more deep are placed above it, let us attend par- 
ticularly to the manner of placing the stones in the bottom of a 
ditch, so that they will not be displaced by the water. 

416. If most of the stones are cobble or bowlders, both the 
side stones and covering stones, place them as shown in Fig. 133 

Fig. 133. Fig. 134. 





MAITKEB OF STUMNU WITU COBULB STONES. IHPBOPEBLT 8TONBP. 

It will be discovered by the figure, that if the covering stone is 
removed, the side stones will fall into the water channel. But 
the covering stone being convex or circular on the under side, it 
keeps them from falling inwards. "When side stones will not 
stand alone until the covering stone is placed on them, I hold 
them up with one foot. This is the most approved manner of 
stoning a ditch with small bowlders. 

417. When the side stones are flat on one side and convex on 
the opposite side, as shown at Fig. 134, which represents a stone 
drain improperly stoned, they should be placed, not as shown in 
the figure, but with the flat side against the side of the ditch, 
and the convex side inwards. It will be seen by the figure, that 
there is a passage for water hetween the side stones and the sides 
of the ditch, — which is very objectionable. And, besides, when 
the flat sides of the side stones are placed against the side of a 
ditch, and not as shown in the figure, the superincumbent pres- 
sure will all be near the corners of the bottom of a ditch ; and 
not near the middle of it, as here represented. When stone are 
placed a? represented by this figure, they are very liable to slide 
13* 



;04 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 



inwards^ as they appear to be sliding in the figure, and obstruct 
the free passage of the water. If two such stones were turned 
around, with the covering stone remaining as it is represented in 
the figure, the throat would carry a larger stream of water, and 
little or no water would run between the side stones and the 
sides of the ditch ; and the superincumbent pressure would tend 
to keep the side stones in their proper places. 

418. Fig. 135 represents the side stones placed very improp- 
erly. Great care should be exercised in placing the side stones, 



Fig. 135. 



Fig. 136. 





VIEW OP BIDK STONES 
IMPKOPJBSLY FLAOBD. 



UANNEE OF STONING 
WITU THIN SIDE STONB8. 



SO as to have them of a uniform height, or of such a height that 
the covering stones will rest on every side stone. If large and small 
side stones are placed together, as shown in the figure, those that 
the covering stones do not rest on, wiU be very liable to fall or 
roll over into the water passage. When covering stones are 
broad, the beginner should see that every side stone sustains 
some superincumbent pressure. It is necessary, sometimes, to 
make a httle depression with a pick, for a side stone of peculiar 
form, in order to have it lie well. 

419. Fig. 136 represents the most approved manner of stoning 
a ditch, where most of the side stones are nearly or quite flat. 
The sharpest edge of the side stones should be placed in the 
corner of the ditch, in order to make the throat as spacious as pos- 
sible, and to prevent the water from forming a channel outside of 
them. 

420. Fig. 137 represents a very good mode of laying the 




STONING WITH ONR 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 805 

throat of a drain, when the covering stones are flat, and a Utile 
■wider than the bottom of the ditch. This man- Fig. 137. 
ner of forming a throat with flat stones is far 
preferable to the one in which the stones are 
placed like the rafters of a building. 

421. Chinking with small stones is a very im- 
portant part of laying the stones in a ditch. 
Great pains should be taken to chink the entire 
surface so thoroughly, that there will not be an 
open space as large as a mouse-hole. "When kow of side stones. 
flat stones are used for covering stones, small flat stones should 
be used to cover the cracks and for chinking ; and, when bowl- 
ders are used for covering the side stones, small round stones 
will be the best for chinking. After the chinking has been thor^ 
oughly performed, it would be a good practice to spread coarse 
gravel on the stones, for the purpose of keeping out the moles 
and meadow mice. It would hardly pay, however, to haul 
gravel for such a purpose any considerable distance, as the sur- 
plus water would find its way into the throat of the drain quite 
as well without the gravel. Let those who doubt this, try the 
experiment for a few years ; and I am confident they will coin- 
cide with me in every respect. 

SIDE-HILL DRAINS. 

422. When drains that are filled with stone, have a fall or 
inclination of more than one foot per lineal rod, if the bottom of 
the ditch is not very hard, should there be a stream of water 
sufficiently large to fill a four-inch tile, the water would be very 
liable to form gullies, where it runs swiftly, and to undermine the 
side stones, thus causing derangement and obstructing the free pas- 
sage of the water. When a stream of water as large as a man's 
arm is confined and pressed a very little, and its passage is down 
a slope, which may not be very steep, it will carry in it large 
gravel and stones, as large as hens' eggs ; which, rolling and 
rumbling and tumbling along, will cut a gully in a few weeks 
even in very compact earth. It is often very desirable to make 



806 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

a stone drain beneath a stone wall, whicli runs up and down a 
steep slope, or beneath a hedge row. (See Par. 195 and 261.) 
In such localities, a farmer does not feel willing to purchase tile 
for that purpose when suitable stones are very abundant. Now, 
in order to form a throat with stone in such a drain, which will 
be as permanent as the hills, let the bottom of the ditch be fin- 
ished in a triangular form^ as represented by Fig. 138, which 
represents the manner of forming a throat with thin flat stones. 
In order to perform the job in a workmanlike manner, the work- 
man should have a light stone-hammer for dressing off the edges, 
Fig. 138. i^ order to make them fit well. Should the 
stream be a small one, and the stones small, the 
throat may be made small. But should the 
stone average in size about one foot wide, the 
channel should be dug about one foot deep, and 
two inches wide in the bottom, and eight or nine 
inches at the top. When flat stones are scarce 
and rather small, it would be best to place a 

MANNER OF BTONINO A , . n , • L^^ ^ li^ f J.^ 

DITCH WITH THIN FLAT row 01 thcm lymg flat m the bottom oi the 

STONES ON A SIDE HILL ^. , ,, « ,-, ,•■11 ii r 

OR THROUGH QUICK- ditch ] aud thcu form a throat with bowlders tor 
the side stones, and for covering stones. This 
manner of forming a throat with the bottom flagged with flat 
stones, would be worthy of adoption where the subsoil is so soft 
that a drain is hable to sink in it. 

FILLING IN THE EARTH. 

423. Every writer on underdraining, whose writings have come 
under my observation, has recommended placing sods directly on 
tile or stone when filhng in the dirt. My experience in under- 
draining teaches me that this practice is by no means a good 
one ; and I am confident that every intelligent farmer, who will 
or who has given the subject a proper investigation, will coincide 
with me. When sods are placed over stone or over the joints of 
tile in an inverted position, they will exclude most effectually the 
loose dirt from the joints of the tile and from the interstices be- 
tween the stones. But it must be remembered, that sods in such 




THE YOUNG FARMEK's MANUAL. 307 

places will very soon decay, forming a complete bed of mellow^ 
fine earth, whicli will be very easily washed into the calibre, or 
worked in by moles or mice. When straw or shavings are used, 
they soon decay, and furnish an abundance of the right kind of 
substance to obstruct the water passage. When mellow earth is 
placed on the stone, moles and mice will haul it down and fill the 
throat full in one season. But if hard earth is placed directly on 
the stones, they find it impossible to work holes through it ; and, 
therefore, they will not be able to obstruct the water passage 
with earth. I was once accustomed to put straw on the stones 
in my drains, and to place sods, inverted, next to the stones ; but 
I found that the moles and meadow mice made holes so readily 
from the throat to the surface of the ground, and hauled in so 
much dirt, that I abandoned the use of straw entirely ; and in- 
stead of putting the sods on the stones, the hard subsoil is always 
placed directly on them. 

424. My practice now is — and I find that all our best farmers 
are adopting it — to return not less than six inches in depth of the 
hardest sub-soil directly on the tile or stone. I always prefer to 
shovel it in when it is wet, as it will set, and form a more compact 
covering when it is wet than it will when the dirt will crumble. 
In covering tile, I always fill with a shovel about six inches above 
the tile, and exercise great care that small stones do not fall on 
the tile, and crush them. In covering stone, I shovel in about 
six inches of hard dirt, and then tread it down firmly — not with 
a horse, as I have read of in some agricultural journals, but 
with my own feet. After this, plow in the dirt with one horse. 
One horse is better than two horses, even when they draw by 
a long whippletree, because they are usually afraid of getting into 
the ditch. After the ditch has been filled so that one horse can 
travel on the dirt in it without danger of displacing the stone or 
tile, it is best to plow with two horses. Great care should be ex- 
ercised by the workmen not to allow a horse to step in a ditch 
when there is but little earth over the stone or tile, as he will 
surely displace some of them. 

425. Of the many hundreds of rods of underdrains which are 



308 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

on mj farm, of tile and stone, my own hands have laid every 
foot ; and there is not a rod of it that does not work very effect- 
ually. I have never dared to trust those men to fill my ditches 
who were employed by my neighbors ; because they do not, in 
some instances, know how to perform such a job in the most 
approved manner; and, when they do know, they are too apt 
to slight it. Being unable, once, to use a shovel myself, I em- 
ployed a man to fill a short ditch after the tile had been laid, and, 
although he had put straw over the tile, he had allowed small 
stones to drop on them, which had broken them in three different 
places, and obstructed the water passage. A stone as large as a 
hen's Qgg^ when allowed to fall on tile in a deep ditch, if it should 
strike just right, would break it. I pen these observations that 
the young farmer may see the importance of being very careful 
in placing the first earth on the tile. 

HOW TO FIND WHERE A DRAIN IS OBSTRUCTED. 

426. If the locality of a drain is known exactly, when the 
water passage is obstructed dig down to the tile or stone ; and 
if water does not rise in the hole where you dug, the obstruction 
is ahove that place. (See Par. 6 and 7.) Now pass on up 
stream, until it is thought best to dig again, or until the soil 
appears to be full of water, and dig another hole. Now, if 
water rises in the hole from the calibre and stands in the hole, 
the obstruction is helow that point. If there is not more water 
than the drain can carry, the soil will be dry a short distance 
down stream from the obstruction. If the exact locality of a 
drain is not known, it may be found sometimes by running a 
crowbar down for every six inches ; and when it is thrust in over 
the drain, it will go down much faster and more easily than it 
will when the subsoil has not been disturbed. 

HOW TO FORM THE OUTLET OF DRAINS. 

427. Both stone drains and tile drains are very apt to be dis- 
turbed and displaced by the frost at the outlets. In order to pre- 



THE YOUNG FAKMER's MANUAL. 309 

vent the frost from injuring them, lay a few feet of the outlet 
with scantling and plank ; or, with scantling for the sides and 
flat stones for covering. Timber for such places should be of the 
most durable kind. The earth should be shovelled away at the 
outlet as often as it works inward so as to obstruct the water 
from flowing freely. The practice is too prevalent, even among 
some good farmers, of leaving the earth some three or four inches 
higher^ a few feet below the outlet, than it is at the end of the 
calibre. When left in such a condition, drains are very liable to 
fill up in the calibre near the end of the outlet. The young 
farmer should not neglect to have the earth cleared away in 
the spring and in autumn, so that the stream of water may 
wash out all gravel and fine earth which has found its way into 
the calibre. But if water is forced to " back up " at the outlet, 
gravel and earth will be carried down almost to the outlet, where 
it will lodge and soon close the water passage. 

HOW TO FORM SMALL POOLS IN A DRAIN FOR WATERING STOCK. 

428. On farms where all the water is collected in underdrains, 
it is often very convenient to have some arrangement so that 
animals may obtain water. Water is collected in underdrains, on 
my own farm, which run the whole length of it. At the lower 
side of each field I cut a gully with plow and scraper, directly 
across the drain, wide enough for a span of horses and plow to 
pass back and forth, and not less than six inches deeper than the 
bottom of the drain, after the tile or stone have been removed. 
Now, place a box without a bottom in it, made of good plank, 
three or four feet long and about two feet wide, and one foot or 
more high, with the corners halved or rabbeted together in the 
channel of the drain. In the upper end of the box cut a hole a 
little larger than the calibre of the tile or stone ; and in the lower 
end of the box, bore a dozen or more — according to the size of 
the cahbre — inch holes, close together. At the lower end of the 
box, on the outside, make a large calibre with flat stones, for a 
foot or two from the box, so as to direct the water, as it flows 



310 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

through the holes in the box, into the cahbre of the drain. 
Chink it well with small stones, so that mice cannot haul in dirt 
and stop the passage. Now, let the box be well staked to keep 
it in its place. The box should be the widest at the bottom so 
that the frost will not lift it. In lieu of stakes, if a man has 
an abundance of plank, it would be better to allow the ends of 
the side plank to extend into each bank, above and below the 
main box. On each side of the box the earth should be kept 
shovelled away, so that cattle when drinking may stand as low as 
the surface of the water is in the box. In times of high water, 
such watering places will be overflowed ; but if there are enough 
holes in the lower end of the box, the drain will never be injured 
by the water. 

429. The object of having the box sunk deeper than the cah- 
bre of the drain is, to allow all gravel and dirt that may be 
washed out to lodge in the sink, so that it can be shovelled out 
when the water is low. The gully should be so wide across the 
ditch that cattle can go down and drink, and turn around and 
come up again, without difficulty. By having the earth exca- 
vated on each side of the box so that they can go down and 
drink, if a small animal should get cornered by a large one, it 
may jump over the box and escape on the other side. Such 
watering-places should be examined very often, and cleaned out, 
if necessary, as cattle are very liable to drop their excrement in 
and about the pools where they are accustomed to drink. 



DITCHES OR OPEN DRAINS. 

430. When there is a stream of water so large that it would 
be too expensive to have it run in an underdrain, it is necessary 
to have open drains. These can be made with a plow and 
scraper very much cheaper than they can be excavated with 
spades and shovels. Open drains should be made so wide that 
the banks will not be continually caving in ; and so deep that 
where the water from underdrains flows into them it may flow 
freely. The banks of an open drain should slope not less than at 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 311 

an angle of forty-five degrees. Accordingly, when a ditch is cut 
thirty inches deep, and is ten inches wide on the bottom, it should 
be forty inches wide at the top. 

431. In localities where the water flows with such a rapid cur- 
rent as to wash out deep gullies in a short period of time, the 
bottom and sides of open drains should be paved or flagged with 
small stones. The sides need not be paved more than one-third 
or half-way to the top of the banks — according to the amount of 
water that usually flows in it. In places where water flows only 
a part of the season, in order to prevent it from forming gullies, 
the bottom and sides of open drains should be scratched over 
with an iron-toothed rake, and grass seed — red-top seed is best — 
sown on them in the fore part of summer, in order to form a sod. 
But where the water seldom or never dries up, the bottom and 
sides must be paved, or simply covered with flat stones. The 
gutters along some highways, where flood-water is apt to form 
gullies, should be smoothed ofij and grass seed sown to form a 
sod ; or, they should be paved or flagged with small flat stones. 

FILLING DITCHES WITH WOOD. 

432. I would never advocate the practice of filling ditches with 
wood, in any form, where stone of suitable sizes or tile can be 
readily obtained. But where timber is cheap, and stone and tile 
scarce, it is infinitely better to fill them with plank than to at- 
tempt to drain land with open ditches. I have known many 
farmers to use spHt timber about the size of rails for the side 
pieces, and spht slabs for covering them. But with materials in 
such a form it is always very difficult to perform a job in a 
proper manner. There will be so many large cracks between 
the side pieces and the cover, that such drains always become 
obstructed in a very few years. I have filled several ditches on 
my farm with plank, because tile and stone were scarce ; and I 
see no good reason why such drains will not work well for thirty 
or forty years, providing the outlets are kept clear, and the earth 
is not allowed to enter at the head. 



312 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAU 



Fig. 139. 




MANNER OF FILLING 
DRAINS WITH PLANK. 



433. Fig. 139 represents the best manner of filling with wood. 
Where there would be a stream of water as 
large as a man's leg, the bottom of the ditch is 
dug about ten inches wide, with the corners 
dressed out very true, and a channel sunk in the 
bottom, as shown in the figure, from four to six 
inches deep. Great care should be exercised in 
cutting the channel, so that each bank be not 
broken up. Now, have a log sawed into strips 
an inch and a half by two inches square, for the 
side-pieces. I have always had my logs sawed 
into plank, and then the plank were slit with a circular horse-saw 
into two-inch strips. (See Slitting Table, Par. 689.) I have 
sometimes slit up inch boards into strips two inches wide ; and I 
think they are quite as good as if they were an inch and a half 
thick. The covering should never be less than 4;wo inches thick ; 
and plank should never be placed lengthways of a ditch, but al- 
ways crossvxiys. Because, when a plank is placed lengthways it 
is very Hable to split, in consequence of a heavy superincumbent 
pressure, and thus obstruct the water course. But when placed 
crossways there is no danger of their splitting. And, more than 
this, when plank are placed crossways there is no waste, as plank 
of any width can be used ; whereas, if laid lengthways they must 
be all of a uniform width. I saw up. the covering plank, with a 
horse saw, as long as the width of the ditch. Now place two 
side-pieces in the ditch, and lay a plank on them, and nail it. 
Nail a plank at the end of every side-piece. The plank should 
be placed about half an inch apart, if they are a foot wide, and 
reasoned, so that when the water expands or swells them, the joints 
will not be so tight that there will be no space for the water to 
enter. If there is but little water to flow in a drain, and the sub- 
soil is very hard, I dispense with the side-pieces, and lay the 
plank over the channel, on the earth. Seasoned y\a,vik in a drain 
will last twice as long as green ones ; and they will be much more 
durable in a deep ditch than they will in a shallow one ; and in a 
ditch where tjiere is water nearly all the year, they wiU outlast 



THE YOUNG FARMEE'S MANUAL. 313 

those that are laid where there is no water during the summer. 
Necessity compelled me to use hemlock or elm plank. But the 
better the timber is, the more durable a drain will be. As plank 
is costlj, I have in some instances sawed up slabs for covering. 

434. The voung farmer should be very careful not to lay any 
poor pieces of plank in a drain. Plank sawed out of logs near the 
tops of trees, in most kinds of timber, will not be as durable as 
plank cut from the hutt logs. Let the best plank be laid at the 
lower end of a drain ; and if poor pieces must be used, — although 
they had better be thrown among the firewood, — ^let them all be 
placed together at the upper end of the drain. Now return about 
a foot in depth of the hardest dirt, and tread it down well ; and 
should the plank decay in less than twenty years, in which time 
they probably will not, the earth will be so compact that a water- 
passage would remain in, the earth for ages to come. In filling 
in the earth on plank, I am always careful to see that no stones 
lie directly on the plank. My plank drains seem to drain the land 
as soon and as eJQfectually as tile or stone. 

ON THE COMPARATIVE VALUE OF STONE, TILE AND PLANK 
FOR FILLING DITCHES. 

435. In making small drains, where two-inch tile will carry 
the water, providing tile do not have to be hauled more than 
four or five miles, the expense in dollars and cents of purchasing 
two-inch' tile and laying them, would be less than the expense of 
picking up and laying the stone for a given number of rods. But 
a tile drain is always better than stone or wood drains. The 
expense of purchasing, hauling, and laying four-inch tile will 
greatly exceed the expense of a stone or plank drain, which will 
carry a stream of equal size. I always consider it the best pohcy 
to use up my stone in making drains, as far as they will go, and 
then, if there is but little water, use tile ; and if there is a stream 
large enough to fill a four-inch tile, use plank. Four-inch tile 
cost at our works, eighteen miles from me, forty dollars per thou- 
sand ; and a thousand tile fourteen inches long will lay about 
seventy rods. Now if stone are not too scarce and scattering, 



314 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

a man can pick up and haul stone sufficient for ten rods of drain, 
and lay them, in a day. "Where there is an abundance of good 
stone, he will accomplish more than that. Almost any intelligent 
school-boy will be able to determine how many feet of plank it will 
require to fill a rod in length of a drain having a water-passage of a 
given size. When there is a large stream of water, the side-pieces 
might be three or four inches wide, and the covering plank twelve or 
/owr^eew inches long. (See Fig. 139.) Suppose, for example, that it 
costs fifty dollars to fill seventy rods of drain with tile having five- 
inch caHbre, making no account of the expense of hauling them. If 
they are thoroughly burnt, a drain made with them would remain 
good during all time. Now, then, if a channel is cut in the bot- 
tom of the ditch three inches deep, two inches wide on the bottom 
and four inches wide at the top, with side-pieces two inches high 
and an inch and a half thick, covered with plank eight inches 
long, a calibre or throat would be formed which would b<^ equal 
in size to the calibre of a tile, the superficial measure of which 
is equal to twenty-two square inches. A throat of the size 
just mentioned would carry a larger stream of water than tile 
having five-inch calibre ; and it would require for seventy 
rods about two thousand one hundred feet of lumber, which 
would cost in many localities fifteen dollars per one thousand 
feet ; but in many other places, lumber of equal value would not 
cost over five dollars per one thousand feet. Now, allowing that 
a plank drain would last only fifteen years before it would need 
to be newly planked ; and allowing that it would cost twenty 
cents per rod to re-dig the ditch every fifteen years, which would 
use up $14.00 ; and reckoning the interest on the money, being 
the difference between the first cost of tile and the first cost of 
plank, we find that it will not cost half as much, in dollars and 
cents, where large tile is used, to keep drains in order one hun- 
dred years, filling with plank every fifteen years, as it will to use 
large tile. But who would like an arrangement in which all the 
leading drains of a farm must be re-dug and re-planhed every 
twelve, or fifteen, or even twenty years ? It is better to use plank 
than not to have drains, where tile nor stone are not at hand. 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 315 

ON THE MANUFACTURE OF DRAIN TILE. 

436. After the clay has been worked by machinery so that it 
is of the right consistence, it is forced through dies in the side of 
a strong box, which is usually made of iron, with the inside planed 
smooth and true ; and as several of them are forced out side by 
side, they are received on a table of small rollers, until they are 
several feet in length, in one piece. A small frame is then lifted, 
by which small wires cut the tile of the desired length. An in- 
strument like a wooden fork, with round tines or fingers, is run in 
the calibres of the tile, and by this they are lifted from the table 
and placed carefully on shelves to dry, in a building which is open 
on the sides. After they have become so dry that they will sus- 
tain the superincumbent pressure of each other, they are placed 
in a kiln and burned for several successive days and nights, until 
they are so hard that they will not disintegrate or fall to pieces 
when they are placed in a ditch. In handling tile when they arc 
in a plastic state, careless workmen often handle them roughly, 
and thus deprive them of their true form, by bunting the ends 
against the shelves, or by allowing them to be bent with the 
fingers of the fork. If farmers would insist on rejecting qyqtj iU- 
shaped tile, manufacturers would soon learn to handle them with 
care. Some of them will spring a little when they are being 
burned, but that will not injure them if the calibre and ends are 
true. Sometimes a kilnful of tile is about half burned. But 
honest tile-makers will not allow those that are not thoroughly 
hurned to be sold until they have been re-hurned. 

437. Good tile, when they are handled, will ring like stone- 
ware, if they are not saturated with water. But those that are 
not thoroughl}^ burned will emit a dull sound, and should be re- 
jected. When good tile are saturated with water they are 
nearly one-third heavier to haul, and will not emit a clear sound 
when struck. 

THE BEST FORM OF CALIBRE FOR TILE. 

438. Tile having the calibre of the shape of a turkey's egg, 
placed with the small end down, are preferable to those of any 



316 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

other form, because the narrower the channel is on the bottom, 
the more rapidly the stream will flow ; and the swifter the stream 
flows, the more gravel and dirt which may find way into the 
calibre will be carried out with the stream. Therefore sole tile, 
with egg-shaped calibre, when they are made true, are preferable 
to tile of any other form. But when we must take up with those 
that have been jammed and pinched and heedlessly knocked into 
the shape of a cocked-hat, when in a plastic state, round tile are 
preferable to those of any other form, because one can make hetter 
joints in laying them. Half-round or horseshoe tile will become 
obstructed with sedimentary matter much sooner than sole tile 
with egg-shaped calibre. Pieces of tile, for the junction of drains, 
are manufactured with one or two branches on the sides, or with 
two calibres at one end like a fork, and one at the other end. 

COST OF DIGGING DITCHES. 

439. It will cost twice as much to dig a ditch of a given depth 
and breadth in some localities as it will in others ; and even on 
the same farm, and sometimes in the same field, a man will be able 
to dig twice as much as in others. If the subsoil is so hard and 
stony that it must be all picked up with a sharp pick, if a laborer 
cuts six or eight rods in length, of thirty inches deep, in a day, he 
performs a faithful day's work. It is acknowledged by every 
experienced ditcher that it is proportionally more expensive cut- 
ting deep ditches than shalloiv ones. After a ditch is dug thirty 
inches deep, it is worth, in some ground, from eight to ten cents 
more per rod for the next foot in depth. In ordinary digging, all 
good ditchers will be able to dig a rod in length of tile ditch, thirty 
inches deep, in an hour. Very many ditchers will perform more 
than this, while many who have had but little experience, and 
handle their tools awkwardly, will not be able to do more than 
one rod in length in two hours. Where ditching is performed as 
recommended in paragraph 402, ditches for a single row of tile, 
three feet deep, ought not to cost over ten or fifteen cents per 
rod, according to the compactness of the subsoil ; and the cost will 
not exceed that sum, if laborers are willing to do a faithful day's 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 817 

work. Where the subsoil is so free from stone that a ditching 
machine can be used advantageously, the cost, per rod, is still 
less. When a man can spade most of the earth, if he is a good 
ditcher, and willing to do a faithful day's work, he can make good 
wages by digging ditches thirty inches deep, and eight or ten 
inches wide on the bottom, for fifteen cents per rod. If a laborer 
is not able to do this, he may safely conclude that he is an inferior 
laborer, and should be willing to work for wages in proportion to 
the amount of work performed. I have had several hundred rods 
of ditch dug, not less than thirty inches deep in the lowest place, 
and eight inches wide on the bottom, for fifteen cents per rod, the 
ditchers boarding themselves. And they earned, in some in- 
stances, at that price, from $1 to $1 75 per day. A faithful 
laborer will shovel out a long piece in a day ; and when a man 
can procure laborers who are willing to do an ordinary day's work 
for one dollar, or one dollar twenty -five cents, it is the most econom- 
ical way to use the plow, as recommended in paragraph 402. 
The habits of most ditchers are so detrimental to their health and 
strength, that their powers of endurance fail when they attempt 
to perform a day's work ; and therefore they increase the price 
per rod in order to make fair wages by performing less labor. 
For this reason ditches of a given depth, which a few years ago 
cost fifteen cents per rod, will now cost twenty and twenty -five 
cents per rod. But even at those prices, drains will often pay for 
themselves in the first crop. 

RECAPITULATION. CONCLUDING REMARKS. 

440. Underdraining will pay, and pay well, too, and no intel- 
ligent farmer will attempt to deny it. If the young farmer feels 
incompetent to lay out his drains most economically, it may save 
him hundreds of dollars eventually to confer with some ex- 
perienced, successful farmer, who has had much experience in 
draining. This confiding in the directions of some would-he engi- 
neer, who knows so much that his wisdom is a decided disad- 
vantage to him ; or laying out ditches, according to the notions 
of some ditchers, who know more than experience ever taught 



318 THE YOUNG FABMER's MANUAL. 



n 



about ditcMiig, will sometimes drain land and sometimes not. 
Don't be a three -cent farmer, especially in underdraining. If 
drains thirty inches deep will drain the land effectually, it is un- 
necessary to sink them deeper. If a three, or four, or five, or even 
six feet drain is needed, never stop to compute the cost. Insist 
on having everything performed y«^5^ right. Never yield to the 
suggestions of any one to make a drain according- to the good- 
enough-for-the-present system. If one or two day's work in a drain 
seems to be necessary, drop every other job and have it done in 
time. When a laborer has completed a job of ditching ly the Job, 
and a ditch is not as deep as it should be in some places, if he has 
dug as deep as he agreed to dig, employ him a day or so to com- 
plete it. Never commence filling a ditch until you have seen 
water flow from the upper end to the lower end, except one 
knows positively that it will flow as directed. Water, in such 
places, never deceives us. Levelling instruments may be incor- 
rect, or may vary, or an inexperienced hand may not adjust them 
correctly. Water is the cheapest and the best, and always at 
hand, even if it is not found in a ditch. Never spoil a drain for 
the sake of using up every tile, both good and poor. If you are 
a little suspicious that a tile is not hard enough, if it must be 
used, lay all of that kind at the upper end of the ditch, and lay 
them all together. Thousands of rods of drain have been stop- 
ped, simply from this cause, — laying, occasionally, a tile among 
good ones, which was so soft that it disintegrated in one season. 
Never make a drain with two-inch tile to carry a stream of water 
which will be large enough to fill a four-mch tile. Let every tile 
and stone and plank be laid by some one who is a little interested 
in having it done well. Do not trust a man to work at filling a 
ditch who insists that he can stand on the surface of the ground 
and do it just as well as to get into the ditch. If it is likely to 
ruin a man's reputation should he be found with India-rubber 
boots on, and other ditching duds, filling a ditch, then let it go. 
In filling a ditch with stone, endeavor to make the throat or cali- 
bre of a uniform size. If the side stones are so large that they 
will extend nearly across the bottom of a ditch, place a bowlder 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 819 

on one side, and a flat one on the other side. Allow nothing to 
be done in a superficial^ perfunctory manner. Keep sods, and 
mellow earth, and straw, and all such substances out of a drain 
until after several inches in depth of hard earth have been placed 
on the stone or tile. Never allow a stream of water to flow on 
the surface of the ground directly over a drain, because if it is a 
stone drain, the water will most certainly find a hole downwards 
into the cahbre, and wash in dirt, and thus obstruct the water 
passage. In places where water is apt to flow on the surface in 
times of high water, have a furrow on one side of the drain for the 
flood water to flow in, and have the earth raised over the drain 
a few inches above the common level. If a drain is filled with 
tile that are not open on the bottom, if a stream flows along the 
surface directly over the drain, there is no danger that it will 
injure a drain. Always keep a vigilant eye on drains; and, 
above all, keep the outlets clear. If a main drain prove to be 
too small to carry all the water, let another one be made a short 
distance from it. Never allow the water flowing from a stoned 
drain to flow into small tile, lest some obstruction lodge in the 
tile. Where a part of a drain is filled with tile, and a part with 
stone, if the calibre of the tile is less than four inches in diameter, 
always put the tile at the upper end of the drain. I have seen 
drains filled with tile, and then a row of flat stones laid on each side 
of the tile, from the top of the tile to the bottom of the drain, form- 
ing a water passage on both sides of the tile. This practice is 
very objectionable, because the water is very liable to undermine 
and displace the tile. "We usually reap our best and most abun- 
dant crops directly over good drains. In wet seasons, vegetation 
suffers far less from too much moisture directly over good drains; 
and in dry seasons, when crops are suffering extrem.ely for want 
of moisture, vegetation will suffer much less directly over a good 
drain, than it will for a rod on either side of it. Let very dry 
knolls be well drained with drains five or six feet apart, and they 
will retain more moisture than they did before they were drained. 
Truly, the entire surface of the earth which is devoted to agricul- 
tural purposes, needs to be underdrained. 
14 



320 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

441. Drains should never intersect at right angles. If they 
are made at right angles to each other, the one that intersects 
with a larger one should be dug in a circle for a few feet from 
the main drain. Tile should be manufactured expressly for 
receiving side drains. They are commonly made with a hole in 
one side of a tile. But the correct way is, to have a large tile 
made like a tree^ with a large limb on one side of it, which should 
stand at about an angle of forty-five degrees with the main tile ; 
or a crotched tile placed at the junction would subserve a good 
purpose. (See Par. 438.) 

DITCHING WITH MACHINES. 

442. There have been several kinds of ditching machines in- 
vented and put into successful operation in some localities. But 
where there is much hard-pan^ or many stones or bowlders, large 
and small, firmly imbedded in the subsoil, it is almost impossible 
to accomplish much with any that have as yet been invented. 
When the subsoil can be nearly all spaded, some ditching ma- 
chines operate very satisfactorily. The best ditching machine 
with which I am acquainted is drawn by two horses, one walking 
on each side of the ditch, having a small plow to loosen the earth, 
with a system of revolving spades to bring up the earth ; and when 
each spade stands in a perpendicular position, the earth drops 
down, and slides or rolls off on each side of the ditch. After 
such a machine has accomplished all it can perform, in most 
places it is necessary to have a good practical ditcher to grade 
the bottom of a true inclination. For such a machine the ground 
must be free from stone. 

443. In J. J. Thomas' Farm Implements, page 139, is a cut 
of a draining plow which is said to operate very successfully, 
cutting the ditch and laying the tile at one operation. But the 
cost for ordinary farmers is too great ; and besides, it would not 
operate where there are many stone in the subsoil. And, more 
than all else, the tile when strung on a rope would be liable to 
be left many times in such a position that when the ground came 
to settle down some of the ends would settle hy each other. 



CHAPTER VI. 

PLOWS AND PLOWING. 

" Speed the plow I Speed the plow 1 
O'er the fields away ; 
And turn the furrows up and down 
All the summer's day." — N, Sto^e. 

444. Our country is full of ill-shapen, clumsy, awkward, and 
almost worthless implements, which pass for plows, in the manu- 
facture of which nearly every correct principle in mechanics has 
been set at naught. But while there are so many plows of an 
exceptionable form and character, it is very gratifying to know 
that there are scores of them which have been manufactured 
according to the most philosophical and correct mechanical prin- 
ciples ; and many of them have been brought to so good a degree 
of perfection that it is impossible to point out a single imperfec- 
tion in any part of them. The common plow, because of its great 
efficiency, and almost universal application in the thorough pul- 
verization of the soil, is the implement on which common farmers 
must almost entirely rely ; therefore, to aid the young farmer 
in the proper selection of plows, I will endeavor to point out some 
of the defects and imperfections which are too commonly met 
with in the manufacture of plows. 

DEFECTIVE PLOWS. 

445. A very heavy plow is objectionable for a single team, 
because it increases the draught of the team ; and a light or indo- 
lent plowman will not perform as good work with it as if it were 
lighter; because in one instance they are not able to handle it, 
and in the other they tuill not. Another very great defc'ct in our 



322 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

common country plows is, there is not a sufficient dip of the point 
helow the sole of the plow, or the bottom of the landside. (See 
Par. 449.) Another defect is, a httle short stub of a mole-board. 
Another is, the wmg of the share is too narrow, and rises very 
abruptly from the entering edge. Another very great fault or 
imperfection is, a very short, low standard, having an acute edge, 
and connected with the beam at an acute angle, by which every 
sod and straw is sure to ciog it. Another defect is, the point of 
the share is not half as far forward of the throat of the plow as it 
should be. The throat of a plow is the space beneath the beam, 
just forward of the junction of the standard and the beam. 
Another defect in the manufacture of common plows is, the han- 
dles do not extend far enough behind the plow, but stand so 
straight up and down that the plowman too often stubs his toes 
against the plow ; and he cannot handle it, because it is too near 
his feet. Another defect is, the handles are too high ; and the 
left handle stands too much behind the plow. 

WHICH IS THE BEST PLOW? 

446. Many farmers are often puzzled, and are in great doubt 
to know which is the best plow for them to purchase. A joiner 
might with the same propriety ask, What plane shall I purchase, 
as the best for every kind of planing. For plowing some kinds 
of soils a certain kind of plows will operate in the most satisfac- 
tory manner, while on a different soil those very plows will not ope- 
rate with any degree of satisfaction. Many plows will work well in 
plowing stubble ground, and in cross-plowing, which would be 
almost worthless for plowing sod ground. One farmer will laud 
a certain kind of plows, and pronounce them the very best for 
plowing sod ; while his neighbor, just on the other side of the 
fence, and in the same kind of soil, with the same kind of plows, 
does his work intolerably bad. The first one mentioned plows 
just deep enough for the plow to operate as well as possible ; 
while his neighbor, having adjusted his plow to run a little too 
deep for the shape of the mold-board to turn the furrow-slice 
well, is entirely unable to plow in a workmanlike manner. Hun- 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 823 

dreds and thousands of plows are now manufactured, which will 
operate as well as any man can desire, while thej cut a furrow 
only four or five inches deep. But when they are put into the 
soil seven, eight, or nine inches in depth, the draught is unac- 
countably hard, and all the strength of a strong plowman is 
necessary to hold them ; and even then they will not operate 
well. Some plows have such a peculiar shape that an increased 
depth of the furrow only one inch will so affect their operation as 
to make them work decidedly bad. 

447. At a plowing match of the New York State Agricul- 
tural Society in 1856, there were two steel plows entered, which 
were made as nearly alike as two plows could be made. The 
plowing done by one of them was done most neatly, while the 
other performed intolerably bad. The teams and plowmen were 
good, and the soil where both plowed exactly ahke. One plow 
cut just six inches deep and eleven inches wide ; while the other 
cut from eight to nine inches deep and from ten to eleven wide, 
and left the furrow-slices all standing on the edge, to the great 
chagrin and mortification of both the manufacturer and the plow- 
man. 

448. This showed very conclusively, that plows for deep and 
for shallow plowing must be of a little different form to operate 
well. A plow that works well for plowing deep, may cut a shal- 
low furrow well ; but a plow may cut a shallow furrow well and 
will not a deep one, and turn it well. 

HOW TO SELECT A GOOD PLOW 

449. In selecting a plow for every kind of plowing, the surest 
and best way is, to purchase it on trial, and not take it because 
A or B pronounces it " the plow that heats the world." Perhaps 
your manner of adjusting a plow and of plowing, and your soil, 
are all so very different from his who pronounces that kind of 
plow a most complete implement in every respect, that you can- 
not possibly make it operate at all satisfactorily. Such a plow 
no man desires to purchase ; and, as different plows are calculated 



824 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

for plowing diflferent kinds of soil, and for cutting a furrow of a 
given depth, it is always best after selecting a plow, the various 
parts of which are as nearly perfect as possible, to purchase it on 
trial. When the first cast-iron plows were manufactured, the 
stand was made very low, and the mold-board also was very low. 
For plowing three or four inches deep they operated very well, — 
as most plows will which have a low standard and low mold- 
board, when turning only a very shallow furrow. But most 
farmers have learned that mines of untold wealth lie just beneath 
this thin stratum of super soil, which our ancestors merely 
scratched over with these imperfectly constructed plows ; and 
that when they attempt to bring it up with such plows, they need 
more team to draw such imperfectly-shaped implements, when 
they are driven an inch or two deeper than they were cal- 
culated to run ; and that they do not turn the furrow-slice well, 
but shove it off, and turn a portion of it over, while the greater 
part is merely set on one edge, ready to fall back into the furrow. 
With the foregoing considerations, we will attend to 

THE POINTS OR CHARACTERISTICS OF A GOOD PLOW. 

450. A good plow is one the shape of which is such, that the 
draft will be as light as possible ; and will turn a furrow-slice well, 
whether the furrow is four or eight inches deep ; and will main- 
tain easily a uniform depth of furrow ; and will hold easy, with- 
out much exertion of the plowman ; and which will glide along 
as smoothly as a goose glides over the gentle-rolling waves of a 
lake. The mold-board should be rather long, and so high that 
the furrow-slice will not be constantly falling over it into the 
plow and furrow ; and the plow should be several inches nar- 
rower at the sole than it is at the hind end of the mold-board at 
the top of it ; and the mold-board should have a good twist at the 
hind end ; and the standard should be of a good height ; and the 
throat open and circular, so that every httle sod or bunch of 
manure will not clog the plow ; and the plow should be of a good 
length from the end of the point to the middle of the throat or 
standard ; and should not rise too much in a short distance ; and 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 325 

the point and wing of the share should be in such a position— 
"Ijdngdown fiat," as common plowmen express it — that they 
will enter the earth several inches, straight in, before it raises the 
furrow-sHce any. When the furrow-slice must begin to rise as 
soon as the wing of the share begins to enter the earth, and must 
rise more and more, until it reaches the mold-board, the draft of 
that plow will be full one-third greater than it would be if the 
wing of the share were very wide, and the surface of it for two 
or more inches almost horizontal. When the share of a plow 
can enter two or three inches, so as to cut the furrow-slice loose 
before it begins to rise, it requires but little force to raise the fur- 
row-slice and turn it over. The wing of the share should extend 
beyond the sole of the plow never less than three inches ; and 
farther than this, as the size of the plow increases, in order to 
cut loose the furrow-slice so that it will turn over more readily. 
When the wing of the share extends but little beyond the sole 
of the plow, the furrow-slice is not cut loose ; and it is far more 
inclined to fall back into the furrow than if it were cut loose on 
the bottom. Tlie wing should always be " cold chilled " — hard- 
ened — on the under side, and should be so thin that it will wear 
off as fast on the upper side as it does on the under side. When 
the wing of the share is half an inch thick, and cliilled or not, it 
will wear off the fastest on the under side ; and will affect very 
greatly the running of the plow.* 

451. The point of the share should always be cold chilled on 
the under side ; and if the soil is free from stone it should be 
much longer, and more slender, and thinner than it should be for 
plowing ground that is full of fast stone. When there are no 
fast stone against which a plow may be broken, the point of the 
share may be so thin that the upper side will wear away as fast 
as the under side wears off. When plow points are very thick — 

* Plow points and any other iron is " cold chilled " by running the liquid iron on a 
Bmooth piece of cold iron, which is placed in the sand when the pattern is molded. Iron 
being so much better to conduct heat than wet sand, the liquid iron is cooled so rapidly 
that it is rendered as hard as it can be made. It costs no more to cold chill plow points 
than it does to cast thorn without cold chilling. And one plow point cold chilled will out- 
last two, and somotimos four — if they are made of soft iron — which are not cold chilled. 



826 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

up and down — ^the under side wears ofif much faster than the 
upper side ; consequently, after the under side of a point has 
become worn off but httle, there is a tendency of the plow to run 
up out of the ground. For plowing ground that is full of fast 
stone, a thicker plow point is necessary, as thin, slender ones will 
break too frequently. But as every plowshare should be made 
with a fin-cutter to separate the furrow-slice from the unplowed 
land, the lower part of the fin may extend almost to the end of the 
point, which will strengthen .the point very much. Plowshares 
should always be made with fin-cutters^ because they lessen the 
draft of a plow ; and a plow works much better with them than 
without them. 

452. Plow points as well as plows, should always be ground so 
smooth before using, that the earth will not adhere to them. 
Grind any kind of cast-iron without water, as a grindstone will 
grind it much faster than it will when wet. 

453. When the young farmer has found a style of plow to 
suit him, when he is about to purchase a new one, order one 
made, and charge the manufacturers to make the mold-board 
of old iron, such as old stoves and old plow-points ; as such iron 
will form new iron which will wear far better and longer than if it 
were run out of pig-iron. Tell them to endeavor to make the 
mold-board as smooth as possible, as a rough mold-board is a very 
disagreeable thing to plow with. Charge him to use the best of 
timber in wooding it ; and give him directions, in feet and inches, 
just how high to make the handles. Have the left handle bent 
to the left not less than seven inches from a right line, so that 
the plowman can walk in the furrow without the left handle close 
to his side. A plowman cannot exert as much strength in hold- 
ing a plow, when the handles are as high, or even higher than 
his hips, and when the left handle is constantly against his side. 
The best and most proper height for plow handles is, just high 
enough for the plowman, when he stands erect, to grasp them 
with his hands without bending his body forward, and having his 
arms straight. When the handles are so low that the plowman 
can just grasp them without bending his arms, he can hold a 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 827 

plow very much easier and better than he possibly can when 
the handles are so high that he is obliged to bend his arms when 
his hands are hold of the handles. It is better to have the han- 
dles too low than too high. Plow handles are almost always too 
high for boys ; — and this is one good reason why they are not 
able to plow as well as they might plow, if the handles were of 
a proper height. "When the handles are low, a plowman can 
throw his whole weight and strength on one handle ; but it will be 
very difficult and inconvenient for him to do so when the handles 
are as high as his ribs. 

454. Steel plows. — In some of the Western States, and in some 
parts of the Empire State, plows are manufactured with steel mold- 
hoards. Steel plows cost several dollars more per plow ; but for 
plowing some kinds of soil, and especially very light soils, they 
are far superior to the best cast-iron plows, because the surface 
of the mold-board is smoother, and admits of a finer polish ; and 
in some kinds of very hght soil, where the dirt will not shp well 
when a cast-iron plow is used, a steel plow will perform most 
complete work. For heavy, stiff soils steel plows are little, if any, 
better than cast-iron plows, providing they are made of old iron, 
and have a very smooth surface. 



ADJUSTING THE DRAFT OF THE PLOW. 

455. There are so many collateral and conditional considera- 
tions which influence and affect the proper adjustment of the 
draft of the plow, that it seems almost an impossibility to lay 
down any infallible rules to enable the tyro to adjust his plow 
correctly. When a plow is correctly adjusted it will glide along 
with a steady motion, requiring very little effort of the plowman 
to hold it, in smooth ground ; and it wiU not seem inclined to 
run too much on the point, nor on the heel. When the draught 
is improperly adjusted, the plowman is often obliged to exert all 
his strength in order to make his plow work at all satisfactorily. 
Sometimes it will run too much on the point ; and the most skill- 
ful plowmen are unable to adjust it so that it will glide along 
14* 



328 THE YOUNG FAKMER'S MANUAL. 

smoothly, resting equally on the point and heel. The draft 
may be correctly adjusted for plowing one kind of soil, but for 
plowing a different soil — perhaps not eight rods distant — that 
adjustment of the draft would be very incorrect. Let a plow 
be adjusted correctly for plowing stubble ground of any kind, 
where the soil is very compact and hard, and it will be four.(iM| 
that for plowing sod of the same kind of soil the plow will run 
too deep. The soil often varies very much in the same field ; 
so that a plow in one part of the field runs well, and in another 
part, with the same adjustment, runs very badly. 

456. The idea which the expert plowman keeps in mind is, to 
have the plow cut a furrow-slice just so thick and just so wide, 
with the least draft to the team, and the least exertion for him- 
self. To secure this end, the team is hitched as close to the plow 
as it can be and not have the whippletrees hit their heels in turn- 
ing at the corners. As the length of traces is increased, in plow- 
ing, the draft increases. Now put the connecting ring, or link, 
or dial clevis, at the end of the beam, in the lowest notch ; and 
if it will not run deep enough, raise it another notch at a time, 
until it will run just deep enough. Now alter the clevis from 
right to left, or from left to right, as may be necessary, until the 
plow will cut a furrow-slice just wide enough to turn it over well. 
If the plow crowds the furrow-slice into the furroAv, without turn- 
ing it over, it shows that the furrow-slice is too narrow for its j 
depth ; and the plow must be adjusted to cut a wider slice. On 
the contrary, if the plowman is obliged to push the furroAV-slice I 
over with his foot constantly, if the ground he is plowing be very j, 
smooth and even, it shows that there is an imperfection or fault 
somewhere. Sometimes by adjusting a plow to run an inch 
deeper it will do very bad work. (See Par. 447.) And sometimes 
it is necessary to adjust it to cut a little wider, or a little nar- 
rower, before it will turn the furrow-slice as well as it ought to 
be done. When a good plow is correctly adjusted, it will glide 
along where there are no obstructions, without being held, for 
ma-ny rods. When a plow is constantly inclined to fall over 
either way, and the plowman must hold it up all the while to keep 



THE YOUNG FARMEK's jSIANUAL. 829 

it erect, there is either an imperfection in the construction of the 
plow, or it is not adjusted correctly. When a plow " tiiDs up 
behind" and does not keep down flat on its sole, or when it 
seems to run all on the point, either the point is too blunt, or is 
worn off too much on the under side, or there is not ^^dip enough" 
— pitching of the point downwards — to the point. Sometimes I 
have found that a plow could not be adjusted by the clevis so 
correctly as all the parts were arranged ; and that by shortening 
the traces or draft chain, or giving them a little more length, 
it would run Hke another plow. "When a plow is adjusted to run 
just right, as the point wears off it is necessary many times to 
give a little more length to the draft chains, or to adjust it with 
the clevis to run a little deeper. It is sometimes impossible to 
adjust a plow to run just right with the style of clevis which is on 
the end of the beam. The arrangement ought always to be such 
that the draft can be adjusted half an inch at a time, either up 
or down, or to the right or left. Then if the beam of tlie plow 
stands as it should, so that the most correct line of draft ivill cut 
the end of the beam, it can be most correctly adjusted in a few 
seconds. 

457. To make a plow run deeper, raise the connecting point at 
the end of the beam one or more notches higher in the clevis ; or 
lengthen the draft chains. To make it run more shallow, lower 
the draft a notch or more in tlie clevis ; or shorten the draft 
chains ; or, which should never be done, shorten the back-bands 
or hip-straps of the harness. To make a plow take a wider fur- 
row-slice, carry the connecting point one or more notches in the 
clevis to the right hand. A notch or two to the left hand will 
make a plow cut a narrower furrow slice. Or, which is seldom 
allowable, a plow may be made to rmi mo7'e shallow by putting 
tli-e gauge- wheel lower, (see Par. 459) so as to raise the end of 
the beam. And a plow may be made to cut a narroiucr furrow- 
slice by carrying the handles to the left hand ; or wider by carry- 
ing and holding them to the right, beyond an erect position; 
neither of which is allowable, except for a temporary purpose. 
(See Holding Plow, 466.) 



330 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

458. I always go with my plowmen to the field and show them 
how to adjust the plow mitil it will rmi just right ; and at least 
once every day I take hold of the plow with my own hands, to 
see if it runs correctly. It would be no difficult thing to tell, if 
I were blindfolded, when a plow runs correctly or incorrectly, 
and how to adjust it properly in case it seemed to run wrong; 
Any good plowman can tell by the touch when a plow runs 
right. 

THE GAUGE-WHEEL. 

459. "Were the soil which is to be plowed always very smooth 
on the surface, and of a uniform depth, and of equal solidity, 
and could the share always be kept as sharp as when first put on 
the plow, a gauge-wheel under the beam to regulate the depth of 
the furrow would be not only a useless but a cumbersome appen- 
dage. A plow should always be adjusted to run as nearly as 
may be the desired depth without the wheel ; and if the plow 
is inclined to run a little too deep in some places, while most of 
the time it runs just deep enough, the wheel may be lowered not 
more than half an inch at a time, until it appears to be exactly 
right. When the share is very dull and the soil variable — being 
very hard in some places and mellow and light in others — it is 
almost impossible to plow a furrow of a uniform depth without a 
wheel. In such a case a plow must be adjusted to run deep, 
and then the gauge-wheel lowered under the beam, until it will 
make the plow cut a furrow of a uniform depth. But such an 
adjustment of a plow increases the draft more than we are 
wont to suppose ; and makes it hold harder ; and it does not, as a 
general thing, run as well. Take off that dull point and put on 
one that is fit to plow with, and then the plow will operate enough 
better to repay the expense of a new share. 

460. A gauge-wheel for general purposes should never be less 
than one foot in diameter. Very small gauge-wheels never 
operate as well as wheels of a larger diameter, unless the ground 
is very smooth. "When the ground is rather rough, small wheels 
are apt to strike obstructions in such a manner as to require a 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 331 

much greater force to draw the plow than if the wheel were 
much larger. 

461. In plowing deep with a double team, where the soil waa 
variable and very uneven, we have found two gauge-wheels to 
operate very advantageously ; one under the beam, and one over 
the heel of the plow, fastened to the side of the beam. The 
plow is adjusted to run about the desired depth, and then the 
liindermost gauge-wheel is attached to the side of the plow in 
such a manner as to allow the plow to enter only a given depth. 
In plowing over knolls, it is many times very difficult to turn the 
furrow-slice well without this wheel, because the plow will run 
so very deep. The plow should not be adjusted to run deep, and 
then the wheel lowered under the beam, to make it run more 
shallow ; because that would increase the draft of the plow and 
make it hold harder ; and if the wheel is nearer the standard of 
the plow than it is the end of the beam, the plow will be very 
much inclined to fall over to the right. In plowing a field where 
the soil is so light and mellow in some places, that a plow would 
run in up to the beam if it were adjusted to run of the desired 
depth through the hard portions of the field, two gauge-wheels 
are very necessary. Although very many farmers denounce a 
gauge-wheel as a useless appendage, I must be allowed to say 
that I know a plowman can plow better, as a general rule, with 
one, and sometimes two gauge-wheels, than he can without them. 
Every good plowman will coincide with me in this assertion. 

THE CORRECT ADJUSTMENT OF THE COULTER 

462. Of a plow is something which not one plowman in fifty 
understands. My manner of adjusting the coulter is, to have 
the lower end of it from two to three inches above and forward 
of the plow point, and standing as far to the left as the left side 
of the end of the plow point. The coulter works best when it 
cuts just as wide as the plow will cut. When it is adjusted to 
cut a half-inch wider or narrower than the plow would cut, the 
plow will not run well, and will hold hard. Most plowmen 
adjust the coulter as shown at Fig. 140, Par. 464, with the end of 



332 THE YOUNG farmer's MANUAL. 

the coulter directly oyer the left corner of the point. But in plow- 
ins where there are some stone in the soil, it will be found that 
stones will throw out the plow much oftener when the coulter is 
adjusted as in the figure, than they will if it is adjusted forward 
of the point so far that most of the stone will pass between the 
end of the coulter and the point of the plow, when they will not 
throw the plow out. And I am fully persuaded — and my expe- 
rience coincides with all the good plowmen with whom I have 
ever conversed on this subject — that when the blade of a coulter 
is of a good length, and sharp, and of the form shown by the 
next figure, and stands about as slanting as shown in the figure, 
with the point from two to three or four inches forward of the 
plow point, it will work better than it will in any other position. 
It requires but little force to draw a sharp coulter through the 
sod, and when the blade of it is made of the form shown in the 
figure, common sense teaches us, that if it stands slanting — as a 
knife for ripping — it will clog less, and lessen the draft of the 
plow. Always keep the coulter sharp-pointed, and the edge sharp. 
464. Fig. 140 represents a very useful instrument for prevent- 
ing weeds, manure, grass, &c., from clogging a plow. It was 
invented by Mr. E. C. Bills, Perry, Wyoming co., N. Y. It 
consists of a corrugated conical cylinder, attached to the coulter, 
as represented in the figure, which turns freely either way. The 
bearing of the lower end of the cylinder plays in a hole in the 
front side of the coulter, and the upper end plays in a hole in a 
clasp, which is fastened to the coulter by means of a set-screw. 
When straw, or clover, or manure, comes in contact with the 
coulter, it shdes up against the cylinder ; and as it is free to turn, 
as one side of such materials wiU usually draw more than the other, 
the cylinder revolves and carries it all on one side of the plow, 
and thus keeps the coulter clear. With such a contrivance a 
plow will seldom clog. 



THE YOUNG FAKMER's MANUAL. 
Fig. 140. 



333 




BILLS* PATENT COTTLTEE-CLBABEB. 
PLOWING TECHNICALITIES. 

465. A furrow is the trench or channel made by the plow 
when it is drawn through the soil ; and it is said to be wide, or 
narroiv — deep, or shallow. The furrow-slice is the strip of soil 
which the plow separates and turns away from the unplowed soil 
when making a furrow ; and it may be wide, or narrow — thick, or 



334 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

thin. A hack-furrow is two furrow-slices turned towards each 
other so that their edges will meet ; or, one may overlay or lap 
on the other. A dead furrow^ middle furrow, or open furrow, 
which are only different names for the same thing, is the channel 
that is left when a land is finished. A land is the unplowed 
ground between two back furrows, or the quantity of unplowed 
ground which a plowman, in plowing, goes around, when he turns 
about in the opposite direction from which the furrow-slice is 
turned. A land may be wide, or narrow. A ridge embraces a 
part of two lands, or all the ground from one middle furrow to 
the other ; while a land extends from one back furrow or centre 
of a ridge to another, A headland is a narrow strip of ground 
at the ends of the lands on which the team turns when plowing. 
When a team goes from one end of the plowing to the other, it 
is called a through. When a team goes to the other end of the 
land or ridge, and returns plowing a furrow, it is called a hout or 
a round. When land is plowed two or more times before seed- 
ing, if the furrows are made across the furrows of the last plow- 
ing, it is termed cross-plowing. When a furrow-slice is turned 
into a furrow, and the edges of each furrow-slice just touch each 
other, it is denominated flat-plowing, or plowed with a flat fur- 
row. When the furrow-slices lap on each other, it is called plow- 
ing with a lap-furrow, or lap-plowing. When plowing is per- 
formed with a Michigan Sod Plow, with which a narrow furrow 
of the sod two or three inches deep is rolled up, and the whole 
covered with well pulverized soil, it is called round-plowing. 
When a common plow is run twice in a place, it is called trench- 
ing, or trench-plowing. When a subsoil plow is run in the furrow 
of a common plow, it is called suhsoiling. 

HOLDING PLOW. 

<* The plow with ill-holding goes quickly aside." — Tussek. 

466. After the plow has been correctly adjusted, the young 
farmer, if he would make a skillful and complete plowman, must 
be careful to observe and to practise the following rules : Always 
keep the plow as nearly level as is practicable. Stand up straight 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 335 

between the handles, and never fall into the unworkmanlike 
practice of walking two or three feet behind the handles. Take 
a firm hold of the handles, and make the arms so stiff, if it is 
necessary, that the handles will take the plowman off his feet 
before it can deviate from a right line. If a stone or anything 
else should cant the plow from its erect position, with a quick 
jerk with one hand set it instantaneously erect. Keep the eye 
a good portion of the time on the furrow-slice, to see if it is not 
cut too wide, and to see if it all seems to be broken up, and 
whether there is not a narrow strip which remains unbroken. 
Some plowmen, too indolent to step up to their work, will sup- 
port themselves, in part, by the handles, and will roll to the right 
and left as a huge ship does in a storm, carrying the handles of 
the plow with them, until the plow almost loses the furrow-slice, 
or cuts one so wide that it cannot turn it, when they will begin 
to " right up^ Such plowmen always make crooked furrows ; 
and no plowman can perform a job neatly who does not cast his 
eye forward of the team and plow, and endeavor to cut straight 
furrows. By riding on the handles of the plow from an indolent 
habit, or for the purpose of keeping the plow from running too 
deep, increases the draft of the plow always ; because, when the 
handles of a plow are long and the plowman rests heavily on 
them, the fulcrum being at the heel of the landside, and the weight 
at the end of the beam where the draft is downwards, the draft 
is increased as much, many times, as it would be if a number of 
hundred pounds of stone were carried on the plow. On the con- 
trary, when a plowman walks up square with his handles, and 
instead of riding on them, lifts a little, and at the same time leans 
a little forward^ he will diminish the draft of his plow from 
twenty to fifty pounds, and at the same time plow a furrow just 
as deep and wide as he who indolently rides on his handles. 

467. Many a good plowman, understanding this principle, when 
the committee at our agricultural fairs and plowing matches have 
been testing the draft of his plow with the dynamometer, has 
secured the first prize by lifting and shoving a little on the han- 
dles, instead of riding on them. The movements of a good 



836 THE YOUNG FAKMKR'S MANUAL. 

plowman must be as quick and agile as a weasel ; and if his 
plow deviates to the right or left, he must set it up as quickly as 
it turned from its course. A slow-bellied, indolent Jonathan, 
who always desires to ride through the world, never can make a 
complete plowman. 

468. In breaking up the prairies of our Western country, 
which are as level and free from stone and other obstructions as 
a barn floor, the plow being drawn by three or four yoke of 
oxen and sustained by four wheels, with a seat on it — like the 
devout and submissive Paddy, who " let the world slide along 
* azy,' and jump on and ride" — the plowman holds his plow when 
riding on it. But let a plowman adopt any such arrangement on 
our compact, stubborn, and stony soils, where our good plowmen 
do not know half of the time whether they are on their feet or 
in a passive state between the heavens and the earth, and he 
would find his quiet seat disturbed very abruptly so frequently, 
that he would choose " to foot it " until he became somewhat^, 
tired. 

BEGINNINa TO PLOW. 

** Clear the brown path to meet the coulter's gleam I 
The plowman comes, behind his smoking team I 
Line after line, along the verdant sod, 
Marks the broad acres where his feet have trod. 
At every round the loosening chains resound, 
And glittering mold-boards sleek the furrowed ground." — GRAnAM. 

469. The principles of adjusting and of holding the plow being 
well understood, and the team being correctly hitched to the 
plow (see Par. 456), and the mold-board being well polished, so 
that the dirt will slip, we are ready to start the plow. Now, then, 
it is not desirable to have huge ridges thrown up along the fence, 
nor to have deep furrows there; but the surface should be kept 
as smooth there as in any other part of the field. Where fields 
are about level, it is best to plow them one way at one time, and 
across the middle furrows at the next plowing. This will keep 
the surface of the ground about level and smooth. In plowing 
with a double team or with a single team, the plowman must 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 387 

first determine how wide his headland (see Par, 465) must be in 
order to give the team sufficient room to turn at the ends of the 
lands. If a field is to be plowed by going directly around the 
outside, there will be nothing to do but to go ahead and keep 
plowing until the field is all plowed. But when a field is to be 
plowed by lands, — having determined which way to plow it, run 
the plow along say ten, or any number of feet distant from the 
edges of the field, wliich will be at the ends of the furrows, mak- 
ing a shallow mark — not plowing a furrow — with the point of tlie 
plow. Now always turn out the plow and set it in exactly at 
these marlcs. Now measure off a strip with the rod-pole (see Par. 
695) on beth sides of the field, just as wide as the headland strips. 
This strip entirely around the field must be left to be plowed last. 
Now plow a back furrow on the farther side of the field, leaving 
a strip as wide as the headland. Commence on the farther side 
first, so that the team will not trample the plowed soil in going to 
and from work. Now if grain is to be sowed by hand, (see 
Sowing Grain by Hand, 493,) it is best to have the middle 
furrows of exactly equal distances apart, and the ridges exactly as 
far apart as the middle furrows are. I always calculate to sow 
about forty-two feet at two rounds. Therefore, measure ofi" forty- 
two feet from the first ridge, and turn another ridge, as straight 
as a fine, and back-furrow just as many furrows on every succeed- 
ing ridge as there were furrows on the first ridge ; and commence 
to turn a ridge every time at the same end that you commenced 
at when the first ridge was turned. If a plowman commences at 
one end in striking out one ridge, and at the other end of the field 
for the next ridge, and plows one or two furrows more on one 
ridge than he does on another, the ridges may be equidistant 
apart ; but the middle furrows will be of very unequal distances 
apart. This will be a bad arrangement when grain is sowed by 
hand, with ridges and furrows for guides. - 

470. When striking out a la,nd or a ridge, the first furrow 
always requires much more strength of team to turn it than is 
required after one furrow has been turned. And the draft of a 
plow needs a difierent adjustment with the clevis, usually, to run 



338 THE YOUNG FARMEK's MANUAL. 

at the same depth in striking out a ridge, and in plowing after 
two or three furrows have been plowed. Therefore, if a team is 
very spirited or fractious, and disinclined to pr^ss steadily into 
the yoke or collar, — which is no uncommon occurrence with 
many good teams, — adjust the plow to cut a very shallow furrow, 
and go twice in one place until the team will work steadily. 
Many a valuable horse has been balked, and "fooled," and well- 
nigh spoiled for service, simply because this precaution was not 
observed. When a team has lain idle for a long, and sometimes 
for only a short period of time, and they are hitched to a plow, 
and it is put in the soil at the ordinary depth, their necks and 
shoulders are very often tender, and they will flinch at a heavy 
draft. Therefore they must be hitched to something, and made 
to haul it about until they will not flinch when drawing a plow 
when it runs at the ordinary depth. 

471. In order to strike out a ridge straight, plant not less than 
three stakes in a row; and if the distance is over twenty -five 
rods there ought to be four stakes. Let the plowman put the 
lines around his body, and keep an eye on the stakes, between 
the horses, and have the lines just tight enough to enable him to 
guide his team by turning his body to the right or to the left. 
This is a far better way than to have the lines on the neck and 
shoulders. I have always found, that with the lines around my 
hody I could strike a ridge fifty or sixty rods long as straight as 
a line, without touching my lines ; ■ whereas, if they were about 
my neck I could not do it. 

472. The beauty and excellence of plowing are, to keep the fur- 
rows as straight as a line, and of a uniform depth. He who can- 
not take a team alone and strike out his lands and finish them, 
and adjust and re-adjust his plow to suit all circumstances, and 
perform a job in a neat manner, cannot expect to receive the 
appellation of a complete plowman. 

473. In order to finish a land neatly when plowing sod ground, 
the plowman must make calculations to leave a strip of sod just 
as wide as two ordinary furrow-shces. Now elevate the end of 
the plow-beam by lowering the gauge-wheel so that the plow will 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 839 

run about half as deep as usual ; and turn half of this strip with 
the team going up the slope, if the ground is not about level. In 
turning the last farrow let the team go doivn the slope, because 
the last furrow is much more difficult to turn than any other ; and 
it is less difficult to turn it when going down hill. Remove en- 
tirely, or raise the gauge-wheel higher than usual, while plowing 
the last furrow, and then let the plow run along once or twice to 
break up the soil where the next to the last furrow was cut shal- 
low. This leaves the middle furrow full of mellow earth, instead 
of leaving a space about two feet wide with Httle or no super-soil 
on it. Having finished the field in this manner, the last thing 
will be, 

PLOWING THE HEADLANDS. 

474. If the soil is about level and smooth, plow the headlands 
by passing round and round the field, turning the furrows inwards. 
If the soil was turned away from the fence when plowed last, 
turn it towards the fence. This manner of plowing headlands is 
infinitely better, and more plowman-like, than it is to plow the 
headlands in a land^ or back-furrow, which is the common prac- 
tice. If a strip twenty feet wide is left entirely around the field, 
there is no disadvantage in it. It is as important to keep the 
surface of the soil smooth along the margin of a field as it is near 
the middle of it. 

475. Many plowmen will insist on plowing very wide back- 
furrows and lands, and will plow across the ends of the lands. 
But the practice is by no means so good a one as it is to leave 
a wide headland. The headlands should always be plowed last ; 
because, if plowed Jirst the soil in many places will be trodden 
down so firmly that it would need to be plowed again when the 
field is finished. 

476. Plowing side-hills and throwing the furrows down hill 
year after year is not a good practice, because every plowing re- 
moves the soil of the entire field down the slope about one foot 
farther ; and on the lower side of the field the soil would be piled 
up in a huge ridge, while there would be in a few years a wide 



340 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

strip at the upper side of the field, from whicli all the super-soil 
had been removed. When it is not impracticable, side-hills 
should always be plowed up and down the slope. The soil will 
work down hill sufficiently fast without plowing it downwards. 

PLOWING A FIELD BY BEGINNING IN THE MIDDLE AND TURN- 
ING THE FURROWS INWARDS. 

477. Every plowman knows that when a field is plowed by 
going around it and turning the furrows outwards, all the soil is 
thrown at each plowing nearly a foot towards the outsides of the 
field ; and if a field is plowed in this way many times, a high 
ridge is formed at the outside, and in the middle of the field the 
soil is all thrown outwards so far that a large excavation is made 
where the plowing was finished. And, furthermore, when a 
field is plowed by going around it and finishing in the middle, 
there is always a dead-furrow from every corner of the field to 
the middle, where the plowing is finished ; and, beside these dead- 
furrows, there is a strip of plowed ground on which the team turns, 
which often becomes so much trodden as to injure it very much 
especially if the soil be of a clayey nature, and is a Httle too 
moist when the plowing is performed. But by commencing to 
plow in the middle of a field, and by turning the furrows inwards^ 
there will be no dead-furrows, no plowed ground trampled down 
by the team in turning, and no ridges at the outsides of the field ; 
and the team will turn on unplowed ground until the field is fin- 
ished. Plowing a field by beginning in the middle is the neatest 
way in which a field can be plowed. The only difficulty in plow- 
ing a field by beginning in the middle is, to get started correctly ; 
and if the plowman has a httle geometrical skill he will find no 
difficulty in plowing a field of almost any shape, unless it is some- 
what hilly, and have every side finish up with the greatest accu- 
racy. The main idea to be kept in mind is, after a field has been 
plowed by commencing on the outside and finishing in the mid- 
dle, to commence in the middle and turn each furrow inwards, 
with the same precision that they were turned outwards. 

478. The first step, then, will be, to find the middle. This 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 



841 



process will be readily understood bj Fig. 141. A B C D repre- 
sents the outside of a plot of ground, to be plowed in the form of 
a parallelogram. At E E^ at equal distances from E F, E G^ 

Fig. 141. 
ft 



p \\ 




E 
P B 


H 


^/y 


\\C 



MOPB or PLOWIXG A 8QUAKK FIKLl) BY COMMENCING IN THE MIDDLE. 

and E H, wbich is found by measuring in the direction of the 
dotted lines, stick a stake at both centres, E E. Now, as it is 
not very practicable to turn a plow at a right angle when it is in 
the ground, let a back-furrow be turned from each corner of the 
field to A E B, and C E D, and from E to E. Now, the land is 



342 THE you:n^g farmer's manual. 

laid out, and the plowman has only to keep his furrow-slices of a 
uniform width on every side, in order to have the field finish 
alike on every side. If he is careless in setting in his plow, 
and is not particular at each corner to have the team go straight 
out, and takes a furrow-sHce in one place a httle too wide and 
in another place too narrow, he will have a very undesirable job 
to finish the plowing up ; because, at one place it may be finished, 
and at another it may lack many feet of being finished to the 
margin of the field. The plow should be set in and come out at 
each corner with the greatest precision. It will not hurt a plow- 
man to exercise his geometrical faculties a little at every corner, 
by measuring the width of each furrow slice with a mechanical 
eye ; and, after a field has been plowed in this way, every one 
will acknowledge that it is enough better to " pay " for any 
apparent extra trouble or care in laying out the work and in 
finishing it. By plowing in this manner there will be neither 
ridges nor dead-furrows, which is very desirable, especially where 
hoed crops are to be planted ; and also, when a field is to be pre- 
pared for a meadow, the entire field is left as level as can be 
desired. 

479. Fig. 142 shows the manner of plowing a field of an irreg- 
ular form by commencing in the middle. The same letters in 
this figure refer to the same points as in Fig. 141. It will be 
seen that the point E is found by measuring from the outside of 
the field G H F, &t right angles to each side. The centre K is 
found by measuring at the dotted hnes N L M, 2.1 z. right angle 
to the centre of the field. It will be seen that the point to set a 
stake at, Z; is in a line with EM, if being equidistant from D 
and C. Now, turn a back-furrow from each corner of the field 
to the two centres, E and K, and also from E to K. Now, com- 
mence plowing by going around the centre, E, and be very par- 
ticular, in commencing, to have the furrows run parallel tvith the 
outsides of the field. After plowing a few hours, measure from 
the outsides of the field to the furrows on every side, and if the 
distances from the last furrow, represented by the dotted lines 
O 0, are all equal, the field will be finished alike on 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 



843 



every side. If the distances are unequal, let stakes be stuck on 
every side, at equal distances from the outsides of the field, and 
plow up to those stakes on every side, until the last furrow is 
exactly parallel to the outsides of the field, like the dotted line 
at O 0, &c. When the plowman has arrived at K in plowing, 

Fig. 142. 




M D 

MODS OF PLOWIKa A FIBLD OF ISBEGULAB FOBM BY COMUEKOING VS THE OENTBX. 

cut ojQf just the point of the unplowed ground across the end 
at K^. After plowing a few furrows across the end, measure 
from K to the last furrow on each side, and if the distances are 
equal, " speed the plow," and you will come out square on every 
side. 

480. The first field that I ever imdertook to plow in this way 
was a field of irregular form. But by following the directions 
here laid down, the field finished up on every side very exactly. 
If the young farmer is not able to carry these directions in his 
mind, let him take them to the field with him, and refer to the 
figure as he measures. 

481. In order to determine at what point to start in measur- 

15 



344 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

ing, in order to measure on a line at a right angle to the outsides 
or margin of the plot to be plowed, nail two narrow strips of 
thin boards together at a right angle, and place them on a car- 
penter's steel square on a high stool or box, or on three stakes 
driven in the gromid, and place one arm of the square parallel 
with the margin of the field, and if the other points to the centre, 
E or K, as the station may be, commence measuring from that 
point. In about half an hour a field of ordinary size can be laid 
out and all the stakes stuck, ready for the plow. 



CHAPTER yn. 

HARROWS AND HARROWING. 

" A harrow to dig up and mellow the path, 
And roller to smooth it, good husbandry hath." — Anox. 

482. The styles and forms of common harrows are so numerous, 
and all good, that I shall here give illustrations of but three of 
them. A farmer in moderate circumstances does not feel willing 
nor able to pay fifteen or twenty-five dollars for a common har- 
row, which could be afforded for less than half that sum. It is 
with harrows as with many other farm implements : there are 
many times several dollars expended in fitting them up, which is 
of no practical utility whatever. Common farmers, who obtain 
every dollar and dime by the most rigid economy and hard-fisted 
industry, expend their cash somewhat grudgingly when it goes to 
pay for redundant, unnecessary work in the manufacture of im- 
plements. A manufacturer will soon use up $5.00 in unneces- 
sary hammering and filing and polishing portions of implements 
which would be just as good, in every roepect, if they were 
merely coated with paint or coal tar ; and the same implement, 
while costing much less, would be equally good and durable. 

483. Fig. 143 represents a triangular hinged harrow, — which I 
have used for fifteen years, and it is good still, — which cost me 
$7.25 ; and it is a very substantial one. Timber, 30 cts. ; making, 
75cts. ; 26 teeth, $4.00; hinges, $1.00; draft chains, 50 cts.; 
4 carriage-bolts, 15 cts. ; painting, 30 cts. ; — total, $7.00. The 
timber is 3x3, of the best of white-oak. The two centre-sticks 
are six feet long, and the forward wings are six feet. The hinder- 
most wings are a few inches shorter. The wing-pieces are thirteen 

(345) 



846 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 



inches apart. The slats are an inch thick, four inches wide, of 
the toughest timber, and driven in firmly, with the joints painted. 
The forward ends of the wings are let into a mortise, with a good 
fit, as shown by the dotted lines, and holted with carriage-bolts, 
which may be obtained at the hardware stores. The teeth are 

Fig. 143. 




A TK1ANGUI„\R HARROW, 



less than an inch square, and three inches apart, from centre to 
centre. If it is desirable to have a wider harrow, make the wings 
longer. The hinges are put through the centre-pieces, which are 
placed close together to prevent the middle of the harrow rising. 
One of the hinge-hooks has a spring-key in it, and the harrow 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 347 

is readily taken apart. The draft-chains need not be heavy 
chains ; and one end of them is attached to an eye-holt^ which 
is put through the centre-pieces. 

484. Harrows similar to this are manufactured all over the 
country, with iron bars bolted across all the sticks where the slats 
are placed, with hinges at one end of them. But that mode of 
hinges increases the expense, and they are not as strong as they 
would be if made in this manner, because in this style the draft 
is on the centre-pieces, while the hinges are put through them ; 
whereas, in the common style the draft is at the hinges, which are 
bolted with small bolts to the wood. A carriage-bolt should be 
put through the pieces at every tooth, to keep them from split- 
ting. 

485. In order to get the wings at the proper angle, strike two 
chalk-lines on the floor at a right angle, and measure three feet 
one way from the corner, and two feet and one inch on the other 
line, and strike a diagonal line, which will give the desired angle. 

486. Always have the teeth extend below the wood not less 
than eight inches, and have them even on the points. The 
longer they are the less liable they are to clog. A harrow 
should be supported on the points of the teeth, and not by the 
frame. 

487. Fig. 144 represents one of the very best styles of harrows 
for pulverizing any kind of soil, -p^^ ^4^^ 

and especially sod ground. It 
will pulverize sod ground more 
with one harrowing than two 
harrowings with a common har- 
row. It will not clog, nor tear "^^^^^^S^^^^^^^ 
up manure that has been plowed coulter harrow. 

under, nor turn over sods, even when it is drawn across them. It 
draws easier than a common harrow, and I know it to be a most 
useful implement. It is manufactured by Pease and Egglestone, 
Albany, N. Y. 

488. The frame of it is made similar to a common harrow, of 
timber two by six inches square. The coulter teeth c are thin 




348 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

plates of iron inclining forward, or turned up like sleigh runners, 
so as to prevent their clogging. The mold-board, M, and stand- 
ard between c and M^ are all cast in one piece, and the edge of 
c is cold chilled to make it wear well ; and they are bolted to the 
wood with carriage-bolts. For preparing stiff soils for hoed crops, 
or for any other crop, such a harrow is worth two ordinary har- 
rows. J. J. Thomas says of this harrow : " Ever}^ farmer who 
cultivates a farm of any considerable size, especially if the soil 
be strong and adhesive, would certainly pay for this harrow in 
one year, by the work it would enable him to perform. Nothing 
can exceed it in preparing inverted sod for corn, or for any other 
crop. It is one of the best inventions of late years for the farmer," 

HERALD AND TOMPKINS' PATENT IRON HARROW. 

489. Fig. 145 represents an iron harrow, which promises event- 
ually to supersede and supplant every other form 
of tooth harrows. Messrs. Herald & Tompkins, 
Trumansburg, Tompkins Co., N. Y., are the 
manufacturers and patentees. It has recently 
been patented, and is a genuine implement. 
They manufacture of various sizes, and the prices 
vary from $5.00 to $22.00, according to the 
number and size of teeth, and weight of harrow. 
The teeth are lolt teeth, with a nut and screw 
on the upper end. The frame is made of round rods of iron, 
which cross each other at the angle shown in the figure, and are 
held in their proper places by two small collars of cast-iron, which 
have grooves in them to fit the round rods, and a hole through 
the centre of each collar for the tooth. Three-quarter-inch round 
rods are used for the largest size. The frames are made in two 
parts, hinged together as shown by the figure. The above cut 
is a perspective view of one tooth, and the collars, or flanges, 
as they clasp the rods. One flange is placed beneath the rods 
and one above them, when the tooth is put in its place, and screwed 
up firmly. 

The chief advantages of this harrow are, — it is as durable as 




THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 
Fig. 145. 



349 




HBRAI.D AND TOMrKIN.S PATENT IRON HAKROW. 



iron ; it is less liable to clog than harrows having wooden frames ; 
it is more substantial than wooden-frame harrows ; the teeth can 
be taken out, and sharpened, and replaced, much more readily ; 
and it is a neat, farmer-like implement. 

HARROWING. 

490. Sod ground should always be harrowed the same way 
that it was plowed, so as not to tear up any sods, unless the 
coulter harrow is used, when the harrow may be run directly 
across the furrows, or diagonally. In harrowing stubble that has 
just been plowed, harrow across the middle furrows the first time, 
in order to level the ridges, and fill up the middle furrows before 
the grain is sowed or drilled in. Some farmers never harrow 
their land before sowing, be it ever so uneven and rough. But 
I never feel that grain is well put in if the soil is not harrowed 



850 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

previous to its receiving the seed. If the teeth clog, they should 
be unclogged at once. Harrow teeth will clog much sooner in har- 
rowing damp or wet soil than they will when it is rather dry. 

491. When beginners are learning to harrow, I always walk 
with them, and tell them to keep their eye on the fore feet of the 
animal that is nearest the harrowed ground, and keep him just 
so far from it. If he keeps his eye on the harrow most of the 
time, he will be very liable to have his team on the harrowed 
ground, or too far away from it. Always allow the harrow to 
run one or two teeth on the harrowed ground, so as not to make 
balks. One can harrow faster to go directly back and forth than 
he can to go round a land. Always harrow the borders of the 
field thoroughly. I seldom harrow a field but twice, — once be- 
fore and once after sowing, after which the ground is rolled. 



CHAPTER yni. 

SOWING GRAIN BY HAND. 

" Scatter ye seeds, and flowers will spring I 
Strew them at broadcast o'er hill and glen : 
Sow in your garden, and time will bring 
Bright flowers with seeds to scatter again." — Anox. 

492. Not every one is fit to sow grain broadcast, and not one 
man in a score is able to scatter seed with his hands as evenly as 
it should be, and no man can sow grain as evenly as a good 
drill, or a good seed»sower. But in some instances a drill cannot 
be used ; and sometimes a seed drill is not at hand ; and some- 
times scores of very good farmers have imbibed the erroneous 
notion that, all things considered, it is better to sow broadcast and 
harrow in the seed, than it is to put it in with a drill. Some 
men may sow grain as long as they live, and they will throw it 
in ridges or streaks. It is very important to know how to sow, 
even if a drill is used for putting in most of the grain on a farm. 

493. There are two modes of sowing by hand broadcast ; one 
is by ridges and furrows (see Par. 469), and the other is hy stakes. 
A person can sow much more correctly by furrows and ridges, 
than he can by stakes, and can sow much faster, also, as it con- 
sumes much time in moving the stakes. 

494. A good-sized bag, with one corner of the bottom tied to 
the mouth of it, hung over the shoulder, is about the most con- 
venient thing to sow out of. Have grain at each end of the field, 
or if the field is not more than forty rods long, have the grain in 
the middle of it. Now, measure off half an acre, and calculate 
about how much you desire to sow on an acre. Sow handfuls of 
a given size while sowing the half acre, and if the proportion 

15* (351) 



'cs 



352 THE YOUNG FARMER S MANUAL. 

seems to be about right per acre, endeavor to take about so much 
at every handful. 

495. Always throw grain as the opposite foot rises. If the 
foot on the same side with the hand that sows, rises as the hand 
throws the grain, a man will find it much more difficult to go for- 
ward. But if the opposite foot rises with the forward motion of 
the hand, the sower will move much easier than if he raises the 
foot on the same side of the hand that sows. 

496. In sowing, either by furrows or stakes, always throw the 
grain from the margin of the field, because one can sow much 
more evenly up to the margin by throwing away from it, than he 
can to throw towards it. Let the grain slip off the ends of the 
fingers, and not hetioeen the thumb and fingers, nor between the 
fingers. Make calculations how wide to sow at one through or 
once across, and endeavor to give the grain such a cast that it 
wiU come down as evenly as possible. 

497. In sowing by middle furrows and ridges, which, if the 
plowing has been done correctly, will be just twenty-two feet 
apart, I always sow just eleven feet to a cast. I can usually sow 
more evenly by walking about midway from each edge of the 
strip that I am sowing. It matters little where a sower walks, 
if he only distributes his grain evenly. 

498. Casting the grain all one way is the most approved man- 
ner of sowing, with many farmers. When sowing is performed 
in this manner, some farmers mark out the ground with marks 
just eleven feet apart, and the sower travels in the marks ; and if 
he commences sowing east and west on the north margin of the 
field, he starts at the east end, travelling on the margin, and casts 
the grain to the south with his right hand, sowing up to the first 
mark. Now, when travelling to the east, he walks in the mark 
and casts his grain to the south with his left hand, and so on, until 
the entire field is finished. 

499. Some farmers walk in the middle furrow, and cast the 
grain half way from the furrow to the ridge, and in returning 
travel on the ridge, and with the same hand cast the grain from 
the ridge, half way to the middle furrow, and tlien return on the 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 353 

ridge, sowing with the same hand half way to the next middle 
furrow. 

500. Some farmers sow from a basket suspended from their 
neck, walking in the middle of the strip to be sowed, and casting 
at every step, alternately, with both hands. I never could dis- 
cover any advantage in this manner of sowing. Indeed, I do 
not approve of it, because it requires a long practice before a 
man can become an ambidexter — able to use both hands in sow- 
ing with equal facility. There are those who can sow very 
evenly with both hands, alternately, but if the sower is not ex- 
ceedingly careful he will sow more unevenly in this manner than 
when he sgws with only one hand. 

SOWING BY STAKES. 

501. When the ground is not prepared by furrows and ridges, 
nor by marks, (see Par. 498,) the idea is to sow by one or two rows 
of stakes, placed at a given distance. In sowing with one row 
of stakes, which should be not more than eight or ten rods apart, 
set a stake where you commence, twenty-two feet — or seven paces 
is my rule — from the margin of the plot to be sowed. Sow along 
the margin eight or ten rods, and plant another stake seven paces 
from the margin, and so on clear across the field. Now, in re- 
turning, sow from the row of stakes half-way to the margin of 
the field, or up to where it has been sowed. Now, set the first 
stake seven paces farther on, at the end where you first com- 
menced, and sow up to the row of stakes. According to this 
mode the sower casts with only one hand in sowing both ways. 

502. When two rows of stakes are used in sowing, they are 
placed eleven feet apart, or as far apart as the width of the strip, 
which is sowed at one through, and one row of stakes is carried 
by the other row, at every through or time across the field. Sow- 
ing with two rows of stakes consumes too much time in removing 
them. When a sower uses tioo rows of stakes, he usually walks 
between them ; although some sowers choose to walk in the line 
of one row, and sow with the right hand when going one way, 
and with the left hand when going in the opposite direction. 



354 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

/ 

IMPORTANT CONSIDERATIONS. 

503. Whatever the manner of sowing may be, the sower 
should endeavor to travel with an even step, and in a straight 
course, and not step sometimes three feet or more, and sometimes 
one foot or two feet, because any variation in the steps will tend 
to sow the grain unevenly. A sower who has long legs and 
takes long steps, is too apt to get over the ground so fast that he 
will not distribute a sufficient amount of seed, unless he has a 
very large hand. On the contrary, he whose legs are very short, 
and who takes short steps, if he has a large hand, is very liable 
to sow too thick. Most sowers are quite apt to scatter much 
grain in bunches and streaks, when they bring their hands back 
from the grain preparatory to casting it. The hand should grasp 
as much as is thought proper, and be brought back even with his 
side, as high as the hips, and extended the entire length, when 
the hand, in the act of casting the grain, should always move hori- 
zontally^ and not rise nor fall, wlien in the act of sowing. (See Par. 
496.) Beginners are very apt to cast their grain in streaks three 
or four times as thick along their tracks as it is a few feet distant. 
Some sowers give their grain an upward heave as they cast it, 
throwing so far that the courses will overlap each other several 
feet. This practice is not as good as it is to have the courses 
overlap a very little. When they overlap too much, the grain 
will be too uneven. A sower should not cast too high nor too 
low. If he casts too high, the grain will be too thin in the middle 
of the courses ; and if he casts too low, the grain will be too thin 
at the junction of the courses. A sower who casts his grain low, 
if he casts it the most proper distance, will always sow more 
evenly than he who casts his grain very high ; and this is more 
particularly true in 

SOWma GRAIN WHEN THE WIND BLOWS. 

504. No sower, however skillful, can sow grain evenly when 
the wind is blowing furiously, or hard enough to change the 
course of the grain as it is cast from his hands. If the wind 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 355 

always blew steadily, a sower could make calculations how far 
the grain would be drifted, and could thus sow it tolerably even. 
But as the wind blows in sudden gusts^ a sower may calculate 
how far to cast his handfuls, and may cast a number of them 
with all desirable precision, and in an instant a gust of wind 
would drift two or three handfuls in one place, leaving a space 
without a dozen kernels of grain on it. A sower can sow any 
kind of grain with the wind, far better than he can when he casts 
towards the wind, whether he travels with the wind blowing in 
his face or against one side. If grain must be sowed when the 
wind blows, I always endeavor to manage so as to sow with the 
wind, and never against it. One way is, to have all the grain on 
the windward side ot the field and sow towards the leeward side, 
returning with empty vessel. Another way is, if the wind blows 
from the soutli, commence on the south side, and if the wind is 
north commence on the north side, and cast the grain all to the 
south. In travelling to the east on the north side, cast the grain 
with the left hand, and when going to the west, cast it with the 
right hand. (See Par. 498.) Let a sower do the best he can, if 
die wind blows very hard the grain will be very uneven. 

MANNER OF GAUGING THE HANDFULS. 

505. If it is at all difficult for the tyro to gauge his handfuls 
when he grasps a large or small quantity with all his fingers, he 
must try several expedients. Sometimes he must close the little 
finger only when taking a handful, and sometimes close both the 
second and third fingers also. Sometimes, in sowing buckwheat, 
or flax-seed, or any kind of seed, where but a small quantity to 
the acre is needed, some sowers hold a round stone with their 
third and fourth fingers. Some sowers grasp a large handful, and 
cast a small portion of it at every step, casting both ways, as the 
arm moves back and forth. But I could never recommend this 
mode of gauging the handfuls, because twice or thrice as much is 
apt to be cast at once as there should be ; and sometimes as the 
sower empties his hand there will not be in it enough for half a 
cast. In gauging the handfuls when 



856 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 



SOWING GRASS SEED, , 

506. The tyro would sow more evenly to hold a round ball of 
wood, as large as a hen's egg of ordinary size — not an ill-shapen|B 
polygon — in his hand, grasping the desired amount of seed with 
the thumb and fore finger. In sowing grass seed — not in the 
chaff — it is best to sow the field loth ways, sowing half the de- 
sired amount each way. This is far better than to sow it all at 
one sowing, because it distributes it more evenly. 

507. If the ridges and middle furrows are about forty-two feet, 
equidistant, — twenty-two feet from ridge to furrow, — it is better 
to sow such a strip at five throughs instead of four, as in sowing 
grain. In sowing grass seed by stakes, and especially very light 
grass seed, it is best to sow at one through only about eight and 
a half feet. Some farmers sow at one through twelve feet in 
width. But it is difficult to sow so wide a strip at one through 
without making balks. 

THICK AND THIN SEEDING. 

508. It seems hardly necessary to state, that if grain is sowed 
very thick on the ground, but little or no seed will be produced ; 
and if it is sowed too thin, not so much grain will be produced as 
there would be if it were sowed thicker. There is little danger 
of getting grass seed of any kind too thick. Not half of our best 
farmers sow as. much per acre, by one half or more, as would be 
most profitable. But there is danger of sowing grain too thick, 
and too thin also. Now if grain can be too thick and too thin, 
in order to produce the largest amount per acre there must be a 
medium quantity, which, if sowed, will produce more grain per 
acre than any other amount, either smaller or greater. The idea, 
then, is, to determine with any degree of certainty how much 
grain per acre, when evenly sowed, will produce the greatest 
amount of grain. There are very many collateral considerations 
which nmst not be disregarded in deciding how much grain to 
sow per acre. Different kinds of grain, in order to obtain the 
largest amount, require a different amount of seed per acre. Dif- 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 35? 

ferent soils, also, require a different amount of seed ; and a differ- 
ent amount of the same kind of seed is very necessary in order 
to produce the greatest amount of grain per acre. Sometimes 60 
lbs. of a given kind of winter wheat will produce only half as 
much as 60 lbs. of the same kind of wheat, — both kinds being of 
first quality, — if the kernels were large in the first, and half as 
large in the second mentioned. We have no standard size for 
the kernels of any kind of grain. If we had it would be an easy 
task to determine, with the greatest accuracy, how much grain 
of any kind we must sow in order to obtain the greatest amount 
per acre. Some grain tillers to a certain extent, if it is not sowed 
too thick. , Therefore, if one hundred kernels of grain are sowed 
at such a distance apart that by tillering they will produce just 
six heads each, or six hundred heads ; and if six hundred kernels 
are sowed in the same space of ground and do not tiller at all, the 
evidence cannot be gainsayed, that, although the first amount 
mentioned may be too small, six times that amount will be less 
profitable than the first^ or an amount a little larger. One kernel 
of buckwheat or of flax-seed, when sowed alone, will usually pro- 
duce more seed than half a dozen kernels, when sowed within the 
compass which is occupied by the one plant. Now the question 
arises, how may the tyro know, or be able to determine with tol- 
erable certainty, how much to sow per acre in order to get the 
largest amount of grain. A will tell him so much, and B will 
say double that amount ; while C will affirm that in both cases 
the amount is too "small. They may all be correct, and. under 
different circumstances all be very wrong. 

509. In order to settle the point most satisfactorily, let a 
farmer measure off a number of plots of good soil, as nearly equal 
in every respect as practicable, and sow them all with the same 
kind of grain. Now in one acre of ground there are 43,560 
square feet. One bushel of wheat weighs sixty lbs. Now we 
will have the plots for sowing wheat contain just one sixtieth of 
an acre ; so that by sowing one pound on a plot it will be at the 
rate of one bushel per acre. One sixtieth of 43,560 is 726. 
Now a plot of ground twenty-seven feet square — not twenty-seven 



358 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

square feet — is as nearly one sixtieth of an acre as we care to 
measure. Measure off j&ve such plots. On the first sow one lb. 
of good wheat, and label it as sown at the rate of one bushel per 
acre. On the second sow two lbs., or one lb. and a half. On 
the third sow two, or two and a half lbs. On the fourth sow 
three, or three and a half lbs. On the fifth sow four lbs. Sow 
them all verj evenly, having a space of a foot wide between 
each plot, and cover the seed with a hand-rake. At harvest, 
cut and weigh each plot separately, and note the result. Notice 
particularly the size of the kernels, and then make an estimate 
of how many kernels in a pound, &c., and the young farmer will 
have in his possession some valuable, tangible data, which will 
aid him in determining this point with more correctness than 
the opinion of all the best farmers in his vicinity. 

510. In determining how .many lbs. of oats to sow per acre, 
when the kernels are of a given size, and the soil of a given qual- 
ity, as thirty-two lbs. constitute a statute bushel in the Empire 
State, measure off four or five plots, each plot containing one 
thirty-second part of an acre, which is 1,361^ square feet, — ^not 
feet square, — equal to a plot forty-five feet and three inches long 
and thirty feet wide. One pound of oats evenly sowed on such a 
plot will be at the rate of one bushel per acre. Two lbs., at the 
rate of two bushels per acre. Two and a half lbs., at the rate of 
two and a half bushels per acre. Sow five plots in this manner, 
and note the result, as in Par. 509. 

511. Forty-eight lbs. make a statute bush el'of barley ; and the 
size of the kernels varies as much as almost any other cereal grain. 
If the kernels are very large, it will be necessary to sow more 
pounds per acre than it would if they were only half as large. 
But in order to test the matter as directed in 509 and 510, 
43,560 square feet in an acre divided by 48, the number of lbs. 
in a bushel, gives 907| square feet, which is equal to a plot of 
ground about 30^ feet long and 30 feet wide. One lb. of barley 
sowed on this plot will be at the rate of ouq bushel per acre ; two 
lbs., two bushels, &c. 

512. On my soil I have been accustomed to sow not more than 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 859 

three bushels of oats, two and a half to three of barlej, and one 
and a half of wheat. When more than that amount of wheat is 
sowed it tillers but little, and the heads are very short, and the 
grain small. I have sowed at the rate of four or more bushels 
of oats per acre, and the straw was slender, the kernels small, 
and but a small number on each straw. 

513. I am well satisfied, beyond a doubt, that it requires at 
least half a bushel of seed per acre less when it is drilled in than 
when it is sowed broadcast; and that I always obtain several 
bushels more per acre when the seed is put in with a drill than 
when it is sowed broadcast. "When grain is drilled in, it is all 
covered of a uniform depth, and consequently it vegetates alike, 
and grows more uniformly and evenly, and stands more evenly 
on the ground. When grain is sowed broadcast, even with some 
machines, the grain in some places is scattered at the rate of four 
or five bushels per acre ; while in other places, when the wind 
blows, the proportion is less than one bushel per acre. And 
more than this, some of the kernels are not covered at all, and 
some of them are covered two, three, and four inches deep ; and 
a vast deal of it is covered so deep in mellow soil by the feet of 
the team that it never comes up at all ; and much of it that does 
come up after a long time never amounts to anything at aU but 
straw. The question now arises, 



WHAT IS XHE MOST PROPER DEPTH TO COVER SEEDS? 

514. We all know that if seeds are covered so deep that all 
the substance of the kernel is exhausted in forming the roots and 
stems before it reaches the surface of the ground, the sprout must 
die. And we acknowledge also that if a kernel is not covered 
deep enough it does not flourish luxuriantly. That the depth at 
which seeds are covered materially influences the germination of 
them no one will deny. The shallower grain is covered, provid- 
ing it is covered sufficiently deep to insure a healthy and good 
germination, the bet^ter it will be for the plant. Small seeds need 
only a light sprinkling of earth. If they are covered deep, if 



360 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

they germinate at all there is not substance enough in them to 
push a stem to the surface of the soil, and of course they die. Oft- 
repeated experiments and extensive observation prove very conclu- 
sively that if our cereals are covered about two inches deep every 
•good seed wiU germinate readily, and be as productive, and per- 
haps more so, than if covered at any other depth. As they are 
covered deeper than two inches, they are longer in coming to the 
surface of the ground. Grass seed vegetates better, and more of 
the seeds grow, if they are sowed after the last harrowing, or after 
the roller. When it is harrowed or rolled in, a good portion of 
it is covered so deep that it is forever lost. A good shower will 
cover grass-seed as deep as it ever needs to be covered. 

" Soon as the soil receives the fruitful seed, 
Make no delay, but cover it with speed." — ^Virgil. 

EOLLING THE SOIL. 

515. There are several objects in rolling the soil after it has 
been harrowed. One is, the pulverization of the lumps. The 
roots of grain seldom or never enter hard lumps of earth. An- 
other is, to cover the grain that the harrow has failed to cover. 
This it does by mashing the lumps. Another object is, to form 
a smooth surface to work on, with mowers or reapers, cradles, 
scythes, or rakes, when cutting and securing a crop. Another 
is, to leave the surface of the soil as smooth as practicable, so 
that the next plowing may be neatly performed. Never roU up 
and down a slope, if a field can be rolled by going along the 
slope, because a heavy roller draws hard up a slope. I would as 
soon dispense with my harrow as with my land roller. I always 
entertained a poor opinion of small rollers, because they draw 
heavily, and are not as effective as a larger one in levelHng the 
surface of the soil. Rollers usually cost too much. A common 
farmer in moderate circumstances, does not feel willing to expend 
thirty or forty dollars for a roller. Therefore, I will give direc- 
tions to the young farmer, who is unwilling to pay four times as 
much as a good roller will cost, • 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 861 

HOW TO MAKE A ROLLER 

516. That will do good service for an age, and be worth two 
small cast-iron rollers which will cost fifty dollars each. I have 
a roller which has run sixteen years, and rolled thousands of 
acres, and has not cost twenty-five cents for repairs, and which 
will be good for thirty years to come. It cost less than ten dol- 
lars for materials and labor, at cash prices. A roller should always 
be double, so as to turn more easily for a team. It should be 
not less than four feet in diameter — so as to be heavy and run 
easy — and about eight feet long. If a young farmer has suffi- 
cient ingenuity to make a neat "cider peg," he will be able to 
make a gocui roller. If he will keep it under shelter it may be 
made of elm, maple, beech, or any other hard wood. The axle 
of mine is sugar maple. 

517. Specifications. — Fig. 146 represents the principal parts of 
a wooden roller ; a a are the two end pieces of the frame, seven 
feet four inches long, and three by four inches square, framed to the 
front and rear girts, three by three, nine inches apart, with inch 
and a half tenons. The tongue is bolted to the forward girts, with 
whipple-trees on the under side. The girts are eight feet three 
mches between joints. E is the shaft, six inches square, of hard 
timber, seasoned, with four gains turned in it, A, four inches in 
diameter and three inches wide, and a bearing at each end three 
inches in diameter, to fit a hole in the wooden box F which is 
bolted to the under side of a a. From one bearing to the other, 
eight feet three inches. From bearing to first gain, three inches. 
Middle gains, six inches apart. Get it turned at the turning- 
shop, or machine shop. A turner will turn it in less than an 
hour ; and it will cost not over thirty cents, h is one of the 
roller heads, in two parts, with a four-inch hole in the centre. 
They are made of plank three inches thick, forty-four inches in 
diameter, and united in the middle with four 1-i^-inch dowel 
pins in each head. The pins must be of the best of tim- 
ber, and well-seasoned, and must be pinned or nailed, to keep 
the heads from separating in case the dowel pins should shrink. 
After the frame is made and the shaft E fastened in its place, 



362 



THE YOUNG FAEMEH'S MANUAL. 



place the ends of the frame a a on two benches, and put the 
heads b in their places, and nail four small braces, d c?, from the 
shaft to the head, to hold it true as it revolves. Now, saw off 

Fig. 146. 




A l^ND EOLLBB FRAME. 



the staves, c c, which are two inches thick, four inches wide and 
three feet eleven and a quarter inches long, and with a carpenter's 
adz, dress the inside of each stave hollowing so as to fit the heads 
and nail them with forty-penny nails. If the staves are very 
hard, bore holes for the nails. It is not important to have the 
edges of staves bevelled very neatly. Some men never bevel 
them at all. The shaft will wear three times as long if the 
holes in the heads are bushed with thin band or hoop-iron, as 
iron and wood will wear much longer than wood running in 
wood. It is not necessary to have hoops to hold the staves. 
Nail a piece of leather over the end bearings to keep the dirt 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 363 

out of the boxes. Use soft grease instead of oil on the bearings. 
The two parts of the roller should be one inch and a half apart, 
as at the dotted lines, and should run as close to the hind girt as 
practicable, in order to scrape off any dirt that may adhere to it. 
But soil should never be rolled when it is wet enough to stick to 
the roller. It will require 192 feet for the heads, about 192 feet 
for the staves, about 50 feet for the frame, 27 feet for the shaft ; 
tongue ten cents, turning thirty cents, eight pounds of nails 
thirty-six cents, eight carriage-bolts fifty cents, for bolting-tongue 
and bearing-boxes, and two and a half days' work, $3 13. Rec- 
oning the timber at one cent per foot, the cost of a good roller 
will not exceed 192 + 1924-50 + 27 + 10 + 30 + 36 + 50-f$3 13 
=$9 00. Mechanics will scout at these figures, but I know 
that I can get up a roller according to these figures, and not lift 
a finger toward it. But those who would hke a very neat and 
more expensive roller, should procure 

GILES AND TOMPKINS' IMPROVED FIELD ROLLEB. 

Fig. 146^ represents a perspective view of a most superior 

Fig. 146^-. 




^^^F£rSUSC V ALB An i. 



GILES 4 TOMPKINS' IMPEOVED FIELD KOLLKE, WITU SEED AND PLASTER SOWEB ATTACHED. 

field roller with cover, and with grass seed and plaster-sower 
attached. They are manufactured by Herald & Tompkins, Tru- 
mansburg, Tompkins co., N. Y. The prices vary from $40 to 
$70. With cover to the roller, and box for holding stone when 
hauling them off the field, and with Seymour's grain-sowing 



364 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

attachment, for sowing all kinds of grass seed, and plaster, lime, 
ashes, and other kinds of fertilizers, the price is $70. Thej are 
made in a very neat and substantial manner, in two parts ; and 
the manner of hanging them, and of attaching the staves to the 
heads, has been secured to them by letters patent. The heads 
are made of cast-iron, with a flange at the circumference of each 
head, which fits a gain in the ends of each stave, so that no bolts 
or nails are used in fastening the staves to the heads. There are 
cast-iron gudgeons bolted to the ends of the frame, which work 
in the hub of the cast-iron heads. An iron cross-bar passes 
between the two parts of the roller, and is bolted to the frame 
behind and before, and in the middle of the cross-bar are two 
gudgeons, which play in the centre of the middle heads. Those 
who desire a superior roller, will do well to confer with the manu- 
facturers already alluded to. It weighs about eight hundred 
pounds, and can be loaded with stone to make it heavier if de- 
sired. 



CHAPTER IX. 

THE farmer's workshop. 

" The farmer's workshop now our notice claims ; 
The work-bench, screw, the yawning jaws and planes, 
Augers to bore, chisels to mortise, grinning saws 
To cut and rip, hammers with potent claws ; 
The shaving-knife, and set of bits and brace, 
All well arranged, each in its proper place." 

518. Every farmer needs a good workshop, where he can 
appropriate to some useful purpose his leisure days in winter, and 
stormy days at any season of the year ; and every energetic 
and thoughtful farmer will have a shop, and will avail himself of 
the advantages and conveniences which a shop and a few tools 
afford. There are scores of farmers (and be it said to their 
shame) who squander away time enough in one season in loafing 
about places of public resort, to make all the harrows, gates, 
etc., that are needed on a small farm, and to do all repairing 
of implements, if they only had a bench and a few tools. Fur- 
thermore, it is a good discipline for any farmer to exercise his 
skill in the use of tools, and if a skillful and ingenious farmer 
will only become accustomed to repair his implements, if he pre- 
pares his timber for such purposes beforehand, he will have the 
satisfaction of knowing that, all things considered, his repairing 
is done better than he is accustomed to have it done by regular 
mechanics. The idea that farmers should have a set of tools, 
may appear somewhat ridiculous to many people, and mechanics 
will sometimes deride such a thought. But it is not to be ex- 
pected that a farmer, imskiUed in the mechanic arts, wiU be able 
to handle tools with all the facility and exactness of an expe- 

(365) 



366 THE YOUNG FAKMER's MANUAL. 1 

rienced mechanic. Still, with a little practice, and with the in- 
structions we shall impart, any one whose apprehensions are not 
too blunt, may do his own repairing of the common implements of 
the farm, and make many new tools in a neat and workmanlike 
manner. It is impossible to do a piece of work well without 
tools, and if the tyro has tools, and they are in good order, he 
will often do a piece of work infinitely better than he had ever 
thought it were possible for him to do it. 

519. The Fig. 147, on the opposite page, represents in part 
one side of a farmer's workshop. It ought not to be smaller than 
sixteen by twenty-four feet. A larger shop than this is always 
convenient. There should be a window at each end of the bench 
on the same side of the shop, and the more windows there are 
on the other sides the better. 

520. The bench should be not less than twelve feet long, and 
the front plank not less than three inches thick, of some hard 
wood. Two feet and six inches is wide enough for a bench for 
ordinary purposes. The height should be in proportion to the 
height of the man who works at it. The correct height is, just 
so a man can sit on it by standing on tip-toe. If it be too high, 
he cannot shove a plane easily, and if too low, he will be obHged 
to stoop too much. 

521. The jaws^ of which a is the movable one, and h the 
stationary one, should be made of hard timber, four by five inches 
square, and should extend above the bench six or seven inches, 
so that the shaving-knife can be used in dressing out timber. 
The bench-screw should work in a nut cut in the jaw, J, and 
should be above the bench rather than under it. There are 
several patent devices for keeping the jaws parallel with each 
other, when holding a stick of timber, but the one shown in the 
figure is the cheapest, and good enough for any one. The ends 
of the jaws should be mounted with cast-iron flanges, as shown 
in the engraving, fitted neatly to the jaws. 

522. c is a rest, which may be placed in any of the holes in 
the bench, for the purpose of supporting one end of anything 
that may be held in the vise when dressing it out. 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 



367 




368 THE YOUKG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

523. Z is a board made to slide in a groove in the frame of 
the bench, and a pin is put in any of the holes in it, to support 
one end of a board when jointing the edges. 

524. cHs a " grab-hook," made of a piece of wood two inches 
square and a foot long, for laying on the bench, with one notch 
against the front side of the bench, and whatever is to be sawed 
is placed on it against the other hook of it. 

525. c is a dog or plane-hook, made of an old steel file, and 
teeth filed in the end that is turned over for holding anything 
that is to be planed. It should fit so tightly in the bench that it 
must be adjusted with a hammer. 

526. -ffis the shaving- knife, which should hang on a wooden 
pin, opposite the jaws, so that standing on either side of the 
jaws one may reach it. / is the measuring carpenter's square, 
and K is the try-square, hanging on a square block. / is the 
tool-rack, for holding chisels, bits, &c., which is a kind of shelf 
with holes in it for holding them. The brace should hang close 
to the bits. Augers should hang at the front end of the bench, 
on the side of the shop. They should not hang all together, so 
as to touch each other, lest the lips become injured and dulled 
by knocking one against another. The framing chisels should all 
be at one end of the tool-rack, and the firming chisels next to 
them. Each chisel should have its place, and so should each bit 
and screw-driver ; and the tyro should adopt the plan at once of 
putting every tool back in its proper place when he is working 
at the bench, even if he uses it every two minutes. It is a bad 
habit to lay bits on the bench because they are to be used again 
in a moment. The saws should hang on wooden pins about the 
middle of the bench. The slitting-saw, the back or tenon saw, 
the crosscut hand-saw, and compass-saw, should each have its 
place ; and if taken down only to cut off a stick, let it be hung up 
again at once, and never laid down on the bench, c is a feUoe- 
saw, for sawing out circular work, and at one end is a stirrup for 
straining the saw, having a nut and screw on the outside of the 
frame. Jtf is a drawer with apartments in it for screws, cotters, 
brads, nails, and other trinkets. Let the mallet be hung up 



THE YOUNG FAKMER's MANUAL. §69 

under the saws, near the chisels. Other tools which it is not 
necessary to enumerate, should have a place on a shelf or in a 
closet. If one has an iron vise, it should be attached to a bench 
on the other side of the shop, because it would be very much 
in the way on one end of the work-bench when planing a long 
board. A large, heavy piece of cast-iron will answer for an 
anvil. The planes should be placed opposite the plane-dog, e, 
and the ends should rest on a couple of strips nailed across the 
bench, so that when they are set on the bench the edges of the 
plane irons will not be dulled against any grit which may be on 
the bench. Iron chips, and iron filings, and all such substances, 
should be brushed from the bench so that edge tools will not get 
dulled on them. Remember, that it is the most skillful part of a 
trade to put tools in order, and to keep them in order. It is bad 
policy to work with dull tools. 



EDGE TOOLS. 

And now we speak of edge-tools long and slim, 
With edges straight, or curved, or thick, or thin ; 
Of furbished knives to cut, and rip, and shave ; 
Of piercing forms to separate and cleave ; 
Of tiny needles, awls with double edge. 
And other forms that sunder like the wedge. 

527. Every instrument that has a cutting edge, whether it is 
formed for piercing substances, for shaving off the surface piece- 
meal, or for cutting them in two^ operates like a wedge. Pocket- 
knives, cambric needles, grass scythes, and shears of all kinds, 
are wedges ; and their efficiency usually depends on the complete- 
ness of the cutting edge^ and on the acuteness or ohtuseness of the 
angle with which they are formed, and on the trueness and smooth- 
ness of their surfaces. (See Wedges, Par. 344.) 

528. Mathematically speaking, a perfect edge in any tool is an 
absolute impossibihty. The finest and keenest edge that can be 
produced on the very best razor, when viewed through a micro- 



870 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

scope appears full of serrature — more like the edge of a huge saw 
than a razor. So with the finest cambric needle, whose point is 
as dehcate as it can be made, when viewed through a microscope 
the point appears like a blunt, dull crowbar. When we attempt 
to cut a very fine hair with a very sharp razor, by holding the 
hair between the thumb and finger, with one end of the hair hang- 
ing free, we can perceive the serrature by the slipping or jerking 
of the hair from one to another. In the sickle the serrature may 
be seen with the naked eye. In a scythe, and in many other 
tools, we can feel them by drawing a finger along the edge, when 
the tool has a good edge. When a grass scythe is in good order 
the serrations are not as fine as they can be made, because if they 
were the scythe would not be most effective. (See Putting 
Scythes in Order, 551.) 

529. Why may we not make a razor, or a knife blade, or any 
other cutting instrument, out of a piece of cast or wrought iron ? 
Why can we not make a needle or an awl out of a piece of wire? 
Because there is not suJ0S.cient firmness and solidity between the 
particles of such materials to retain their shape and position when 
brought in contact with other substances. We have seen (see 
Wedges, Par. 344) that a piece of very tough and hard wood 
always makes the best wedges. This holds good in respect to 
edge tools : the cutting edge must be made of such material as is 
capable of being made not only hard, but tough and hard. If 
iron that is capable of being made very hard would make the 
best edge tools, there would be nothing better than good cast- 
iron ; because that can be made as hard as we can desire. But 
such iron possesses no more tenacity than glass, and of course is 
imfit for edge tools. If an edge tool were made of the very 
toughest iron, it might appear to the naked eye to possess all the 
qualities of a very effective tool. But when brought into use, 
the edge would readily yield by bending and turning every way, 
because the cutting edge lacks firmness and hardness in addition 
to its toughness. And, more than these qualities already men- 
tioned, the serrations of the cutting edge of a tool made of either 
wrought or cast-iron would be very coarse ; and if they possessed 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 371 

tenacity and hardness they would lack a very important quaUty 
— fineness of particle. 

530. Now good steel possesses every desirable quality for mak- 
ing the best of edge tools. It possesses refinement of particles, 
and is capable of being made very hard and brittle, as glass, or 
tough and soft, as wrought iron ; or any degree of hardness and 
tenacity combined, from its softest to its hardest condition, may 
easily be secured. Many kinds of tools are made wholly of steel; 
and some are made of a part iron, and faced with steel ; and some 
are made of entire steel, excepting the shank or the eye. 

531-. Framing chisels, for example, are made with the whole 
face steel and the back iron ; but firming chisels are usually all 
steel. Large, heavy tools, the edges of which are bevelled only on 
one side, are made with a steel face, for the sake of economy in 
the cost of tools, and are just as good, and sometimes better, than 
if they were all steel. The cutting edge of an axe, or a pick, or 
crowbar, or any other tool the edge of which is bevelled on hoth 
sides, must be all steel for a few inches back of the cutting edge. 
Large knives for some kinds of straw-cutters, shingle-machines, 
and such like, the edges of which are bevelled only on one side, 
are just as good, and much cheaper, by having their faces laid 
with a thin plate of steel. "When it is desirable to have tools of 
a given size, they should always be forged a very little larger, 
wider, and thicker than it is necessary to have them, so that there 
will be room or space for finishing them up weU, The forging 
should be done as true and smooth as practicable, and the took 
partly ground or filed off a Httle, and then tempered. 

TEMPERING EDGE-TOOLS. 
" The tempered metals clash, and yield a silver sound." — Dryden. 

532. Tempering edge tools is the art of giving them a certain 
degree of hardness. If a tool be made of the very best of steel, 
and has not the correct temper, it is in one respect no better than 
if it were made of steel of a very inferior quality. It requires the 
exercise of much skill and wisdom to temper tools right. A man 



872 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

may be able to forge and finish up edge tools in the neatest man- 
ner, and be incompetent to temper them well. This is an art 
which is acquired by the exercise of mechanical skill, and long 
experience. A workman may " hit " upon the right temper in 
one tool, and then, if he is not a natural mechanic, and if his ob- 
servation be not very close, and perception very quick and keen, 
he may fail to get the correct temper in tempering a score of tools 
exactly like the one he had tempered so well. The idea to 
be kept in mind in tempering edge tools is, to have the whole steel 
tempered so as to make a good cutting edge as the edge wears 
away. Tools are tempered many times so that the cutting edge 
is first-rate until one-fourth of an inch or so is worn ofij and 
then they become poorer and poorer as the edge is worn away, 
when they are worthless until they are re-tempered. And many 
times the first edge of a tool is very poor ; but after it has been 
ground two or three times the edge will continue to grow better 
until it is worn out. But if a tool is tempered as it should be, it 
will hold as good an edge when it is half worn out as it did when 
it was new. 

533. When a piece of steel is heated to redness, and immedi- 
ately plunged into cold water, it is rendered as hard as it can be 
made, and as brittle as a file, which possesses no tenacity. 
When steel is heated to certain different degrees it emits differ- 
ent colors, each color corresponding to the different degrees of 
heat. For example : if we heat the end of a steel bar, or chisel 
which has good steel on the end, to redness, and thrust the end 
into cold water and cool it for an inch or two from the end, if the 
steel is not rusty, by looking attentively at the steel between the 
hot and the cold steel we shall discover several colors. As the 
cold steel is being heated up, a kind of greyish color will be per- 
ceived, and a little farther towards the hot part of the tool the 
steel will assume a kind of straw color ; and between this color 
and the hot portion the steel will assume a shy-hlue color. Now 
when all these colors are discovered in ordinary steel, if the whole 
were plunged into cold water and cooled, those parts of the tool 
which presented different colors would possess different degrees 



THE YOUNG FARMEK'S MANUAL. 373 

of hardness. If the cutting edge of the tool were formed in that 
part which presented a greyish-white color, it would be so hard 
that it would not retain a cutting edge, either for cutting iron or 
wood. Now if this hard or grey portion of the tool were ground 
off until the cutting edge is formed in that part which was of a 
straw color, the cutting edge would usually be hard and tough., 
suitable for cutting iron. Now grind off all the straw-colored 
portion, so that the cutting edge will be in the shy-llue part, and 
in good steel we would have an edge most suitable for cutting 
wood. Now the idea always is, if we know about how hard it is 
desired to have the steel of which tools are made, we have only 
to heat the whole tool to such a degree of heat and plunge it 
into cold water, when the entire steel will possess a given degree 
of hardness. Sometimes one kind of steel must necessarily be 
made a little harder than another kind, for the same purpose ; and 
sometimes the steel of wliich a tool is made is of such an inferior 
quality that it is impossible to give it such a temper as will retain 
a good cutting edge. Tools are sometimes heated to redness, and 
plunged into cold water and partially cooled, and then heated in 
the fire until they exhibit the desired color, when they are 
plunged into the water and cooled. Large tools, such as saws, 
scythes, &c., are heated in large ovens to a given degree of heat, 
when they are slipped instantaneously into a large tank of oil or 
water to cool them. 

534. Different steel requires different degrees of heat. Now, 
when the young farmer has an axe jumped., or a pick repaired, he 
should tell the workman to remember and note the color or degree 
of heat at which the edge was tempered, and if the edge upon 
trial proves to be too hard or too soft, if he is a skillful work- 
man he will be able the second time to temper the edge of the 
desired hardness and toughness. I find that almost all kinds of edge 
tools as the cutting edge is worn off become softer, and will not 
retain an edge well. I heat such tools in a charcoal — not mineral 
coal — fire to redness ; and cool about two inches of the cutting 
edge, and then if it is desired to have a cold-chisel edge, cool it 
just as the straw-color begins to appear at the edge. If for cut- 



374 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

ting wood, cool it just as the slcy-hlue begins to cover the end. 
Should it be too hard or too soft, try again. Great care should 
be exercised in heating the steel, not to get it too hot. Steel is 
often injured very materially by being heated to a white heat ; 
and sometimes if steel is heated a little too hot, it is spoiled com- 
pletely for good edge tools. 

535. If a farmer has many tools to be tempered, whoever 
tempers them should use charcoal instead of mineral coal for 
heating the steel, because with charcoal, steel is heated more 
gradually and uniformly entirely through it ; whereas, the heat of 
mineral coal fire being so intense, the steel is heated too hot at 
the surface hefore it is sufficiently heated in the middle. Conse- 
quently, it is quite liable to be injured or " burned " by too 
intense heat. No good manufacturer of edge tools will work iu 
mineral coal fire : he will use charcoal. 

536. Our common blacksmiths usually work in mineral coal 
fire, and they seldom get half as good temper in drills, picks, 
and such like, because it is impossible to do it without charcoal. 
I can always obtain a better temper in small tools by heating 
them in a common stove, than our ordinary blacksmiths can in a 
fire of mineral coal. — Although grinding tools is the next opera- 
tion after tempering them, it is necessary to have the grindstone 
in good order first. Therefore, although rather out of place, I 
shall notice here 

THE GRINDSTONE. 

" Noiselessly the grindstone's standing 

In the willow's cooling shade ; 
O-er it now no workman 's bending, 

Grinding up his tempered blader. 
Faithful grindstone ! useful grindstone I 
Who does not thy service prize." — Edwards. 

537. Allow me to see a farmer's grindstone, and I will not ask 
to see him, nor his tools, nor his farm, nor his gates, nor his fences ; 
and I will " grind out " for you his traits of character with infal- 
lible certainty. If it is " as hard as a nether mill-stone," and 
hung upon a wooden crank, and supported by a couple of old 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 375 

rails set against the fence, or on two stakes driven into the 
ground, and bobs up and down, and wabbles sideways when 
revolving, like an old rickety, " drunken " carriage- wheel, and 
utters a mournful squeak, which sounds like the last requiem of 
an old dilapidated New England ox-cart, he may be set down as 
a slack, unskillful, unsuccessful, thriftless, penny-wise-and-pound- 
foolish sort of a nonentity, who does not take an agricultural 
journal ; and who always performs every job just as if he felt 
that his time was consumed to no good purpose, and his money 
thrown away. On the contrary, if the grindstone is a good one, 
and neatly hung, we may rest assured that its proprietor will 
eventually distinguish himself in the world — if he has not already 
done so — as a thorough, successful and worthy citizen. The 
grindstone is the most useful implement among all the tools of 
the farm. How shall we put all our tools in order without a 
good grindstone? Therefore, because of its great utility and 
efficiency, it must of necessity be itself a good one, and be in 
good order. 

HOW TO SELECT A GOOD GRINDSTONE. 

538. A good grindstone should not be too hard nor too soft. 
If it is too hard, it will require a long time to grind a tool ; and if 
it is too soft, itself will wear out much more rapidly than it will 
grind a tool. For ordinary tools, the grit should not be too 
coarse nor too fine. Very coarse stones are used for grinding 
heavy tools with coarse edges. (See Grinding Tools, Par. 
548.) Grindstones often are full of hard spots and hard streaks. 
Therefore, the young farmer should always purchase a grindstone 
on trial, and if it should be found to have no hard streaks or 
spots in it, if the grit is about right, it will doubtless prove to be 
a good stone. Select one for ordinary use, which weighs about 
two hundred pounds. It is impracticable to grind tools well on 
a stone that is full of hard spots or streaks. Small ones may be 
cut out with a cold-chisel, but as a general rule it is best to reject 
every stone that has hard spots in it. 
16* 



876 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 



HANGING THE GRINDSTONE. 

539. In order to be able to grind tools well, the stone must 
run as true, both on the sides and edge^ as a circular saw. It is as 
impracticable to grind tools properly on a stone that wahhles, and 
bohs up and down, as it would be for a miller to grind grain well 
with the mill-stones in bad order, or not balanced correctly. 
Many a good grass scythe or cradle scythe has been condemned 
and returned to the manufacturer as not having a good temper, 
simply because it could not be properly ground on that miserable 
apology for a grindstone. 

540. There are various modes of hanging a grindstone true, 
but I shall notice in this place only one of them. Grindstones 
will often wear away on one side much faster than on the other side. 
In such a case, if the stone is wedged on with wooden wedges, it 
must be wnhung, and rehung in order to make it run true. But 

Fig. 148. 




AN IMPEOVED OBINPST0I7B SHAFT. 



if it is hung on a shaft with collars, as a circular saw is hung, it 
will require but a few moments to w?ihang it, and rehang it. 
There are grindstone shafts for sale, fitted up like the journals of 
circular saws, with collars and a nut to fasten the stone. But 



THE YOUXG farmer's MANUAL. 377 

they cost several dollars, and are no better than the style of 
shafts represented by Fig. 148. a is the shaft, not less than 
three feet long, with a crank at each end of it, and the bearings? 
b h, 1-J- inches in diameter and three inches long, turned smooth, 
with a collar, c, six or eight inches in diameter, cast with the 
shaft having a square key-hole through it at E. Put the shaft 
in the eye of the stone, as shown by the dotted lines, against the 
stationary collar, c, and put a loose collar like c on the opposite 
side of the stone, and drive in the key a little. Place the shaft 
on the frame, and if it does not revolve true on the side, adjust 
it with a few thicknesses of paper, or with a piece of thin leather. 
The shaft should be smaller than the eye in the stone, so that it 
can be made to run true on the edge. If the stone is too thin 
for the space between the collars, put in a thin piece of board. 
Drive with a hammer, on the stationary collar to the right or left, 
and not on the surface of the stone, when adjusting it to run true 
on the circumference. With such a shaft a grindstone can be 
well hung in fifteen minutes. Do not drive in the key too hard, 
because it requires but little to hold a stone. If the shaft of a 
grindstone is short, the crank is always in the way when grind- 
ing the knives on cutter-bars, grass scythes, axes, &c. 

541. Fig. 149 represents a grindstone complete, running on fric- 
tion rollers ; although if the bearings of the shaft are neatly polished 
it is a matter of indifference whether there are any friction rollers 
or not, because there will b3 so little friction at the bearings that 
there will be no perceptible difference in the running of the stone. 
The bearings of my grindstone run in lead boxes, (see Fitting 
UP Machinery, in next vol.,) and I would not exchange them 
for friction rollers, a is the frame, made of 3x3 scantling. h is 
the water-trough, which should be well smeared on the inside 
with coal tar. c is the treadle, hy which the grindstojie is turned 
by the foot, d is the dash, to protect the workman from water. 
I sometimes place a board on each side of the stone, to turn the 
water into the trough when grinding. "When a atone revolves sq 
rapidly that it will throw all the water from the troughj a vessel 
containing water may be suspended above it, and a small hole 



878 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

Fm. 149. 




A GKINDSTONB WITH CLAMP FOR HOLDING TOOLS WHILE GRINDING THEM. 

made near the bottom of it with an awl, so that the water will 
drop just fast enough to keep the stone wet. 

542. Grindstones should always be protected from the influences 
of the weather, and especially from the rays of the summer's sun. 
Sometimes the sun will affect them so as to render them very 
hard ; and sometimes the rain, frost and sunshine will check them, 
or cause them to crumble. In order to grind edge tools correctly, 
the workman should understand very well the difference be- 
tween a 

> 

CRUSHING STROKE, AND A DRAWING OR SLIDING STROKE. 

543. Edge tools of every description operate most effectively 
by being drawn diagonally as they enter the materials to be cut ; 
and any substance can be cut with far less force when the cutting 
instrument is made to operate in a diagonal direction than if it 
were forced square through it. When a cutting instrument is 
forced straight into or through any substance, it is said to have a 
crushing stroke ; and when the cutting edge is made to enter, and 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 379 

to slide along as it enters, the stroke is called a sliding^ or a 
drawing stroke. The stroke of an axe is a crushing stroke. A 
chisel in mortising, an auger in boring, and a plane in planing, 
have a crushing stroke. A sickle, a grass scythe and cradle 
scythe, have a drawing stroke. (See Sharpening Grass 
Scythes, 551.) A shaving knife, a pocket knife, a razor, and 
many other instruments, are used with either a crushing stroke or 
a drawing stroke. When an edge tool is used with a crushing 
stroke, no matter what the substance to be cut may be, the cutting 
edge should be whetted on a whetstone that will produce as fine 
an edge as possible. An edge tool that has a coarse edge re- 
quires the exercise of much more force in working it than if it 
had a very fine edge. A first-rate chisel will not work at all 
well in mortising dry, soft timber, when the edge is coarse. But 
give the same chisel a fine edge and it will shave hke a razor. 
It is impossible to make a good plane-iron work well in planing 
when it has a coarse edge ; but give it a fine edge and one can 
shove it in very hard wood with ease. For cutting wood with 
any instrument, having either a drawing or crushing stroke, and 
for cutting any kind of metal, either with a drill, or turning it 
with any kind of chisel, or for planing it, the cutting edge should 
be whet on an oil-stone having very fine grit. The cutters of 
mowers and reapers usually operate with a crushing stroke ; and 
they require a very fine edge in order to have them work with 
the least amount of force. Edge tools that are used with a draw* 
ing stroke for cutting such substances as cornstalks, operate much 
more eSectively with a coarse edge than if it were very fine. A 
very fine edge on a sickle would require the exercise of double 
the strength that a coarse edge requires. But any edge tool for 
cutting wood having the serrature of the edge as coarse as the 
edge of a sickle, would require more than twice the amount of 
power to work it that would be necessary if the edge were very 
fine. 

544. Straw-cutters, and some kinds of shingle machines, the 
knives of which are attached to a gate, are made to cut with 
a sUding stroke by having the gate work diagonally instead of 



880 THE YOUNG FAKMER's MANUAL. 

playing straight up and down. A very little slide or draw when 
an instrument is cutting, often gives it more eflSciency than we 
are wont to suppose. 

545. When a young lad begins to whittle, he very soon learns, 
without any instruction, to give the knife blade a diagonal mo- 
tion across the stick. In using a drawing knife a workman soon 
learns, when shaving a hard stick, to draw the knife across the 
stick, as he draws it towards him. A man may clasp the edge 
of a sharp tool or razor very firmly and it will not cut his hand, 
but draw the instrument or hand a very little, and with one-fourth 
the pressure the edge will enter readily. When -a young man 
first begins to pass the razor over his face, he often finds that 
even with a good razor he is not able to cut his down-like beard 
unless he draws his razor; and even then some of it is so very 
slim and limsy — like the down on a young gosling — that it will 
slip hetween the serrature of the edge. (See Putting Razors 
IN Order, 550.) 

546. In trimming fruit-trees, or shrubs, or hedges, if the cutting 
instrument makes a crushing cut, more than twice the force is re- 
quired in cutting oflf a small branch than is necessary when it is 
cut with a sliding stroke. And more than this, the work is much 
better, and more neatly performed, if the cut is sliding. 

547. Pruning shears^ represented at Fig. 150, by having a slot 

Fig. 150. 




BUDING-CUT PBDNINQ SHEARS. 



in one of the blades, so that the centre-pin will move easily back 
and forth in it, make a sliding cut when cutting off branches, or 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 881 

the long hoofs of sheep. Common shears make a crushing cut ; 
but when this kind of shears is opened, the connecting rod, in 
closing them, slides one blade along, so that the centre is at the 
other end of the slot. Thej can be obtained at Allen's Agricul- 
tural Warehouse, 89 Water street, N. Y. city. 

GRINDING EDGE TOOLS. 

" The flashing knives upon the grinding disk 
Are held, with grating and discordant sound." — T. B. Read. 

548. The young farmer doubtless understands that the process 
of grinding and whetting tools is performed very similar to re- 
ducing the thickness of a board, by planing it with a gouge- 
shaped plane. The grit of the stone enters the steel, and scratches 
numerous little furrows in it, removing the metal as soon as it is 
cut loose. If the grit is coarse, the scratches will be much deeper 
and wider, and farther apart than if the grit is fine. If tlie 
scratches extend to the cutting edge of the tool, the edge will be 
full of serrature, coarse or fine, corresponding with the grit of the 
stone. If the scratches are made at a right angle with the cut- 
ting edge, the serrature will stand at a right angle also. But if 
the tool when grinding is held in such a position that the scratches 
are made at different angles, the serrature will be hooked, or stand 
at the same angle with the scratches on the sides of the tool. 
Now, when a tool is designed for cutting wood or iron, or any 
other kind of hard substances, it is best to grind it and whet it 
while it is held in such a position, that the scratches and serra- 
ture will stand at a right angle with the cutting edge, whether 
the tool makes a crushing cut or drawing cut. But when a tool 
is designed for cutting soft, spongy substances, and is used with 
a draw cut, it should be ground and whet so that the serrature 
will stand at an acute angle, or be " hooked ^ 

549. Let a case-knife be ground so that the scratches will be 
at an angle of forty-five degrees towards the handle, and let it be 
whet by drawing it on a fine-gritted stone, from heel to point 
across the stone, and attempt to cut a loaf of soft bread with it 
by drawing the knife towards you, and if the knife is a good one 



382 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

soft bread can be cut neatly^ whicli could not be cut with a crush- 
ing cut. 

550. Sharpening razors is a job wbich every man ought to 
understand. If a man's beard is very fine, and the serrature of 
bis razor almost as coarse as his beard, the serrature will jerk 
from beard to beard, and ^^ pull hair " intolerably hard. If a 
razor is very dull, draw it fifty times or so on a very fine-gritted 
oil-stone, from heel to point across the stone, with sweet oil on 
it, (see Par* 565,) and then strap it on a razor-strap which has 
three or four sides, each being a little finer gritted. There is 
grit in wood and in leather. The idea is to make the serrature 
as fine as possible. Then, as the beard is composed of the same 
substance as our finger nails, by wetting it thoroughly, and by 
having a thick lather to hold the ends of the beard from vibrating, 
and by shaving with a drawing cut, any bachelor whose face is 
tolerably plump, will be able to shave his beard so closely and 
smoothly, that the fair, soft cheek of the belle of the town, when 
cheek to jole, would not recoil on account of the " prickers." 
It wiU not dull a razor half as much to cut wet beard as it does 
to cut dry beard. 

GRINDING GRASS SCYTHES AND CRADLE SCYTHES. 

" They sharp their blades with many a shrill che-whet." — Read. 

551. When scythes are handled most correctly, they make a 
sliding cut ; therefore, in order to have them " take hold " of the 
grass or straw, the serrature of the edge should stand towards 
the point, or in an opposite direction from the serrature of a grain 
sickle, which stand towards the handle. Now, in order to have 
the serrature all standing at the proper angle, and hooked towards 
the point, both sides of the blade must be ground and whet, so 
that all the scratches will be diagonally across the basil of the 
blade, from heel to point, as represented by Fig. 151, which 
exhibits a microscopic view of a well-ground scythe. 

552. Now, with one hand holding the heel of the scythe 
firmly, so that it cannot rocJc either way, and with the other 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 883 

hand towards the point, hold the scythe on the grindstone, with 
the edge towards you, so that the scratches of the grindstone 
will be at about an angle of forty -five degrees with the cutting 
edge, as shown in the figure. Move the scythe gradually from 
heel to point when grinding, and grind clear to the point at just 

Fig. 151. 




A MICEOSCOPIC VIKW OF THE EDGE OF A SCYTIIB IN GOOD OBDER. 

such an angle. After grinding one side in part, remain in the 
same position, and turn the scythe over, taking the heel of it in 
the other hand, and grind that side at the same angle clear to the 
point. Grind no more on one side of a scythe than on the other. 

553. Always hold a scythe so that the stone will revolve 
towards the edge, and never from, it ; because, when a stone re- 
volves towards the edge, it cuts the steel smooth and clean 
entirely to the edge, and a workman can see distinctly when a 
tool is ground up to a good edge. But when a stone revolves 
from the edge, if a tool is not very hard, the steel will not be 
swept clean from the edge, but a very thin stratum of it will 
hang to the edge, sometimes more than a sixteenth of an inch 
wide, which will all come off when the tool is whet. And 
besides, when grinding, a very wide cradle-scythe, it is almost 
impossible to grind it in a proper manner, if the grindstone 
revolves in tlie direction from the back to the cutting edge. Let 
a workman of but little experience grind up a new cradle-scythe 
by grinding from the edge, and if he does not grind it so thin 
as to spoil it, he will be an exception to the general rule. 

554. I once had a young man in my employ who knew far 
more than I about grinding up new scythes, who ground from 
the edge, and reduced the basil of the scythe so thin for half an 
inch hack of the cutting edge, that it would not retain an edge 



384 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

to cut grain one rod, but would crumble like a thin plate of cast- 
iron. No good scythe will retain a good edge for any reasonable 
length of time if it is ground too thin. 

555. If a scythe is ground square across the basil, the serra- 
ture will stand at a right angle with the cutting edge ; and a 
workman will be obliged to exert more force when using it to 
make it cut well. If the scythe is ground so that the scratches 
on the basil and the serrature are made in the opposite direction 
from those in the preceding figure, a scythe will not cut grass or 
grain near as well as if made as shown in the figure. A work- 
man, when grinding a scythe, should avoid rolling and rocking a 
scythe on the stone, because such a motion will make the surface 
of the basil circular or convex^ and the cutting edge will be very 
blunt. Avoid also letting the grindstone catch the edge, as it 
wiU round it off so much that a rifle or rubstone will not touch 
the edge. 

556. Whetting scythes requires more judgment and skill than 
to whet a razor. To whet a scythe correctly, set it up before 
you on the small end of the snath, and move the rifle from heel 
to point slowly and alternately on each side of the scythe, draw- 
ing the hand downwards as it is thrust forward, so as to make very 
fine scratches on the basil, in the same direction of those which 
are made by the grindstone. Stop the rifle suddenly and see if 
you do not whet too rounding on one or both sides. No scythe 
will cut well if it is whet too rounding or blunt. The idea is, to 
hold the rifle in such a position that it will sharpen the cutting 
edge, and lie flat on the basil when it is on either side of the scythe. 
If a rifle is not held in a correct position, the more a laborer 
whets his scythe the worse he makes it. Boys, and some men, 
too, when whetting their scythes, wiU thwack away with all their 
might, sometimes hitting the ba/ik of the scythe, and sometimes 
making a very rounding stroke on the edge^ and sometimes the 
rifle will not touch the edge on either side, and sometimes a care- 
less stroke backwards will remove more good edge than can be 
restored by whetting half an hour. 

557. More good scythes are spoiled and worn out^ and rendered 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 385 

useless by improper grinding and careless whetting, than by all 
the grass and grain which they cut. Let a man who understands 
well how to grind and to whet scythes, have a good scythe, and 
he will wear it out by cutting grain or grass, and not hy whetting 
it. Good scythes, when properly ground, do not need to be whet 
every ten rods. When I see laborers whetting their scythes at 
every ten rods, the conclusion is a correct one, that they have 
poor scythes^ or that they do not know how to whet them correctly, 
or that they prefer " to stop and whet " to using them. I have 
often cut around a ten-acre field without whetting my scythe ; 
and I always observed, even when I was in my teens, when 
mowing or cradling with a lot of hands, that they could not cut 
as far as I did without whetting, and cut it well. 

558. Different scythes require rifles and rubstones of different 
grit. Sometimes a new rifle will produce too coarse a serrature 
on the edge, and sometimes a new rifle will produce an edge 
which a rubstone or old rifle will not. And sometimes an 
old rifle which is about worn out, will give a scythe a keener 
edge than anything else. If a scythe is- rather soft, keep rub- 
stones and coarse rifles off it, and use some old rifle nearly worn 
out. The grit of both rifles and rubstones should be very fine, 
in order to form a keen edge. 

CLAMPS FOR HOLDING EDGE TOOLS WHILE GRINDING THEM. 

559. At edge-tool manufactories, different styles of clamps are 
used for holding edge tools on the grindstone, so that a workman 
can grind the basil of any tool very true at any desired angle, 
by the application of a little strength. But common farmers do 
not always feel willing to expend several dollars for a clamp 
which they will not use but a few times in a year. Every one 
who has ever ground many tools, knows that it is a very difficult 
and laborious job to grind up some kinds of tools while holding 
them with the hands alone. 

560. To facilitate the grinding of small edge tools, like knives 
of straw-cutters, or any knives which are difficult to hold in the 
hand, I have been accustomed to use a very cheap but efficient 



386 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

clamp, shown at Fig. 149. ^ is a board ten inches wide, bolted 
to the frame a, with the bolts put through slots or mortises in E^ 
so that it may be raised or slid along to the right or left. F is 
a square stick fitted to a mortise in E^ and extending from E 
across the grindstone. With wood-screws or small iron bolts, 
fasten a straw-cutter knife to the under side of the handle F, 
and place it on the grindstone with the handle in the mortise E^ 
and adjust the board E so that the knife will rest on the stone at 
the desired angle, and fasten E with the bolts. As the grind- 
stone revolves, slide the knife across the stone back and forth by- 
taking hold of F. The handle may be four or five feet long, 
and if it fits the mortise well, a knife can bo ground as true as 
is practicable with any other clamp. With only one hand a 
man can set a span of horses with ease. 

THE MOST PROPER ANGLE FOR THE BASIL OF TOOLS 

561. Is a subject in relation to which the opinions of all good 
mechanics coincide very well. The more acute the angle of the 
basil is, the less will be the force required to make it cut. But 
when tools are used for prying as well as for cutting, the angle 
of the basil must be more ohtuse than if the tool is designed sim- 
ply for cutting. The angle of the basil of a scythe is usually 
about five degrees — very acute. 

562. Fig. 152 represents a side view of a cold-chisel, which 
every farmer needs. If no old file is at hand, purchase a piece 
of octagonal steel, and have one end forged like the figure, and 
tempered, and then grind the edge on both sides, as shown in 
the figure, at an angle of about twenty-five degrees. 

563. Framing chisels, and plane-irons, and drawing-knives, 
and knives for straw-cutters, &c., I usually grind at an angle of 
•about twenty degrees. And even when plane-irons and chisels 
are ground at an angle of twenty degrees, the edge will not 
stand when cutting hemlock knots, and such like, unless they 
are made of superior steel. All such tools should be held on the 
grindstone, so that the scratches and serrature will be at a right 
angle to the cutting edge. 



yHE YOUNG FARMEE's MANUAL. 
Fig. 152. 



387 







■xs 



SHOWING THK PBOPEB ANQLE FOR OBINDINO COLD-CHISELS. 

564. The knives of mowers and reapers usually cut with a 
crushing stroke. Therefore, the more acute the angle of the 
basil the more easily they cut. But if they are ground too thin 
they are more liable to be dulled by breaking out at the edge, 
than if they were ground at a more obtuse angle. All things 
considered, if such knives are ground at an angle of twenty de- 
grees, the basil will be acute enough for all kinds of work. 



OIL-STONES 

565. Are almost as indispensable as a grindstone. Indeed, it 
is very impracticable to produce a fine, keen edge without one. 
They may be obtained at the hardware stores for about fifteen 
cents. Set it in a wooden block, and use sweet oil on it when 
whetting a tool instead of water, because oil will aid in giving a 
tool a keener edge. Nail a strap of old leather on one side of 
the oil-stone case, and after a chisel or plane iron has been whet, 



388 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

strap it a little on the leather, and if the steel is good and prop- 
erly tempered, it will clip a hair. 

SHARPENING SHEARS 

566. Is a very short job. Fig. 153 represents a transverse 
section of one of the shear blades ground at a proper angle. 

Fig. 153. 

/ 
/ 

/ 




\ 

A TEAN8VBR8B 8B0TI0N OF A BHEAB BLADE PBOPEELT OBOTTKI). 

Never grind any shears on the flat side of the blade. The 
grindstone should run very true, and the blade should be held 
square across it as it revolves towards the edge. If the edges of 
the blades have become worn off on the flat side where they 
cut, they must be ground off on the edge — ^not on the flat side — ' 
until the flat side is most prominent at the cutting edge. Whet 
sheep-shears and wife^s shears on an oil-stone, and if they will 
cut wet newspaper they are in good order. If shears are ground 
at an angle as acute as chisels, in cutting thick hard substances 
the edge would yield bv bending or breaking. 

BENCH PLANES. 

567. A farmer needs a good set of planes, consisting of a 
jack-plane for rough work, a fore-plane or short-jointer, larger 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 889 

than the jack-plane, for dressing stuff truer than can be done 
with the jack ; a jointer^ for making straight work, and a smooth- 
ing-plane, for smoothing boards when it is not necessary to joint 
them. 

568. Select planes that are made of good white beech, in pref- 
erence to any other wood. Apple-wood and cast-iron planes 
shove much harder than beech planes, because they set so close 
to the stuff which is being planed. See that the grain of the 
wood runs up and down^ and not parallel with the face of them. 
Before they are used they should be thoroughly soaked in linseed 
oil, to render them more durable and heavy, as a workman will 
usually be able to plane more easily with a heavy plane than with 
a light one. 

569. The face of a good plane must always be very true, not 
hollowing, nor rounding, nor winding. They are very liable to 
wear untrue, — when they must be '"'■ faced off'^ with a jointer, 
similar to the manner of dressing out a gate stile. (See Par. 
240.) New planes are very apt to be winding on the face. 
When they are so they must be faced true. 

570. Planes with double irons are best, because with them we 
can plane smoothly cross-grained or eaty timber. But it is not 
practicable to do so with a plane having a single iron. The 
adjustable iron or cap is designed to break the shaving when 
planing, by turning it at so short an angle that slivers cannot be 
torn up as they often are with a single iron. In planing straight- 
grained timber, a single iron is preferable. 

PUTTING PLANES IN GOOD ORDER 

571. Is a job that every wood-mangier is not able to perform. 
If the irons or bits are not ground correctly and whet on a fine 
stone, no man can plane well. Fig. 154 represents a view of 
the face side of a jack-plane iron. Hold it in grinding so that 
the grindstone will revolve towards the edge, and grind the hasil 
at an angle of about twenty degrees, if the stuff to be planed is 
hard and knotty. (See Fig. 152.) Set the bevel square at the 
desired angle, and try the angle when grinding. Grind it about 



390 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 



Fig. 154. 




SHAPE OF THB EDGE OF A JACK-PI.ANE IRON. 



as circular on the edge, from corner to corner, as the figure. 
Place the try-square against one of the edges of the iron, to see 
if one corner is not being ground off too much, as shown by the 
dotted line. If a jack-plane iron is ground straight on the edge, 
as shown by the dotted line, it will cut a shaving so wide that 
the plane will choke or clog. The edge should be ground on as 
true a circle as is practicable, from corner to corner, and if the 
basil should be found upon trial to be too thin for planing hard 
and knotty stuff, let it be ground a little more blunt. 

572. Fig. 155 shows the correct form for the jointer and 
smoothing-plane irons. The edge, from corner to corner, should 
be ground convex but little. If it is ground very true, and the 
middle is about one-thirtieth of an inch more prominent than the 



L-iu'c 



THE YOUNG FAKMER S MANUAL. 
Fig. 155. 



391 




SHAPE OP TQK EDGE OF THB JOINTEB IKON. 

comers, it will work well, and the plane ridges will be hardly 
perceptible. In order to plane smooth, the irons must be as 
straight on the edge as they can be, and not make a square cut 
at their corners, for if they do they are very liable to choke 
or clog. In order to plane well, the edge must cut like a razor. 
(See Oil-Stone, Par. 565.) 

ADJUSTING THE PLANE BITS 

573. Requires considerable skill in order to do it just right 
when it is done with a wedge. There are in limited use several 
patent arrangements for adjusting plane bits, but they increase 
17 



392 THE YOUNG FAKMER's- MANUAL. 

the cost to such an extent that ordinary mechanics are not will- 
ing to purchase them. The old way of adjusting and key- 
ing them with a wedge is good enough for any mechanic, and 
will without any doubt supplant and triumph over every other 
mode of adjustment. 

574. Set the plane on the hind end, holding it erect with the 
left hand, with the left thumb in the throat, placed on the face of 
the bit. Rest the fore end against your chin and look lengthways 
of the face of the plane, and put the plane iron through the throat 
until the eye can just see a little of the edge. Hold it then with 
the left thumb while the wedge is crowded in with the right hand. 
A light tap with the hammer will fasten it. Never drive in 
the wedges as if they were never to be again withdrawn. Try 
the plane ; and with light taps with the hammer start it in until 
it cuts deep enough. For planing cross-grained, eaty timber, 
sharpen the bit, and set the cap or shaving breaker (see Par. 
570) as close to the cutting edge of the bit as practicable. To 
withdraw the bit, hold the plane with one hand, with the thumb 
in the throat at the lower edge of the wedge. Press upward with 
the thumb on the wedge as you strike on the fore part of the 
plane, on a rivet head which is put in the plane to hammer on. 
Or turn the plane upside down, and withdraw the wedge and bit 
with one hand, by thumping the plane downwards on the bench. 

575. Mechanics many times dispose of their old planes because 
the mouth is too wide. Such a defect may be obviated by set- 
ting a piece of band iron in the face of the plane so that the 
mouth will admit only a thin shaving. When planing straight- 
grained stuff, raise the cap, or shaving breaker ; because more 
force is required to shove a plane when the shaving breaker is 
set near the edge of the bit. If a wedge is driven in very hard 
in keying the bit, there is danger of springing the piano, 

THE WAY TO PLANE A BOARD TRUE AND SMOOTH. 

576. If a board is pretty true, not warped nor winding, it is a 
short job to plane it. Lay it on the work-bench, with one edge 
about even with the front side of the bench. With the jack- 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 893 

plane, well sharpened, commence at the end of the board, and 
shove the plane at the first stroke along the edge of the board 
nearest to you about two or three feet. Cut another shaving now 
a little farther on the board, and then another, until you have 
planed entirely across the end of the board. Now step along 
and plane about three feet in length more of the board, and so on 
until the whole board is planed. Now go over it with the smooth- 
ing-plane in the same manner as was done with the jack-plane. 
Make as long strokes as you can conveniently without stepping 
forward. Endeavor to avoid this planing at random^ as many 
workmen often do ; and be very careful not to plane off the sides 
of the board more than the middle. A few random, careless 
strokes with a plane near the edge of a board, will in some in- 
stances make the side of it so uneven that the entire board must 
be dressed down even with the deep cuts ; which might consume 
nearly half an hour of time. Let the sides at the edges of the 
board be left a shaving or so the highest, if anything, until the 
finishing strokes are applied, when it will be found much easier 
to plane the sides down even with the middle than it is to plane 
the middle down even with the sides. If the face of a board is 
required to be straight, after it has been jacked off with the jack- 
plane the fore-jylane or short-jointer should follow the jack-plane, 
and after the short-jointer use the long-jointer. When the board 
is cross-grained, and cannot be planed smooth by shoving the 
plane one way, the tyro should learn to plane in an opposite di- 
rection. After the face of a board has been dressed with the 
short-jointer as smooth and true as seems to be practicable by 
shoving the planes forward, or lengthways of the board, if there 
are numerous ridges made by the plane it shows that the edge of 
the plane iron is too circular^ or convex^ from one corner to the other ^ 
Sometimes, after a board has been dressed pretty true, it is best 
to plane crossways of it, cutting a thin shaving, after which it 
must be planed lengthways, cutting a very thin shaving. It is 
just as well, in planing timber which is not " eaty " or cross- 
grained, to cut a thick shaving at first as it is to take a very thin 
one. But in finishing it, in order to leave it true, and destitute 



394 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

of plane ridges, it must be done by taking a very thin shaving. 
When a board is very rough, and covered with a mat of fine 
sHvers, resembling wool more than wood, which is often the case 
with baswood and other soft woods when the boards have been 
sawed with a dull saw, the jack-plane iron must be very sharp or 
it will not cut these fine slivers when planing lengthways of the 
timber. When such is tlie case, it will be well to try planing 
crossways of the grain until the board is jacked off. Sometimes 
one can cut a very thick shaving with a jack-plane, and thus take 
ofi" all the fine sHvers at one planing much better than to cut only 
a thin shaving. In planing hard wood, if the boards are not pretty 
true it is best to plane crossways with the jack-plane until the 
short-jointer or smoothing-plane can be used to plane lengthways. 
If a board is warped, or is winding, it can usually be made 
true more easily by planing it crossways first, and then planing 
lengthways. In planing crossways of a board, the tyro must be 
careful to turn up his plane or make the shaving run out just be- 
fore the cutting edge of the iron arrives at the opposite side 
of the board; otherwise, instead of cutting a smooth shaving 
entirely across the board, it will split a sliver from the opposite 
corner, and mar the face of the board at the corner. In plan- 
ing off long boards, if they are a very little winding they ina\' 
be dressed out winding ; but when a workman intends making ;i 
bee-hive, or chest, or nice box, the sideboards and end boards niib:t 
not be winding. If they are dressed out winding, the whole box 
is liable to be winding, unless the boards of two opposite sides 
wind equally towards each other, or from each other, when they 
are placed side by side. The tyro will perhaps find it much 
more difficult to plane a board true and smooth that is but one 
foot long than to plane one that is two or three feet in length ; 
because beginners at planing usually cut a thicker shaving at each 
end of the board, in consequence of not keeping their plane level 
on the board. When the iron begins to cut at the end of the 
board, the forward end of the plane must be held down firmly un- 
til it arrives at the other end of the board, when the hindmost end 
of the plane must be kept down until the plane iron is beyond the 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 895 

end of the board. This last direction is very important in jointing 
or planing the edges of boards, in order to have them straight. 

577. When one side of a board is planed true, which may be 
determined by holding the straight edge of a steel square across 
it, if the board is to be planed on both sides, and brought to an 
even thickness, run a gauge-mark along the edges and across the 
ends, and then plane it down with the jack-plane almost to the 
mark near the edges of the board first ; and then plane down the 
middle, and be very careful and not plane the middle lower than 
the sides are. Plane crossways or lengthways as already 
directed ; but do not try to plane with an iron that has not a 
sharp edge, because with a dull plane iron the tyro will do poor 
work. Sharpen the plane irons very often in order to plane true 
and smooth. Sometimes the grain of about half of the board runs 
in a contrary direction from the other half. In such a case the 
board must be turned the other end forward, or the workman 
may shove his plane with the other hand in an opposite direction. 
Good workmen accustom themselves to shoving the plane both 
ways, as it is often much more convenient to plane the other 
way than it is to change ends with a board. 

578. In planing some kinds of hard timber that is eaty, tough, 
and with the grain doubled and twisted, it is necessary to take a 
very thin shaving. And even then, should the throat of the 
plane be rather large, one cannot plane smooth. If the plane 
iron be a double one, the cap or shaving-breaker must be set as 
close down to the edge of the cutting iron as it can be, and not 
prevent its cutting a shaving. In such a case the iron must be 
very sharp or the workman cannot plane at all. The nearer 
the shaving-breaker is to the edge of the plane iron, the greater 
will be the force required to shove the plane. If the grain of a 
stick be very straight and not eaty, the shaving-breaker may be 
raised one-fourth of an inch from the cutting edge of the plane 
iron, as it will plane just as smooth, and much easier. 

JOINTING BOARDS AND PLANK. 

579. Let the board be put in the vise on the edge, vertically, 



396 THE YOUNG FARMEK'S MANUAL. 

not leaning to or from you, and have it as low, if possible, as 
the top of the bench ; because one cannot plane well when he is 
obliged to hold his plane on a board as high as his arm-pits. 
Jack off the edge the entire length, and then look over it to see 
where it is a little the highest or lowest, and jack the high places 
until the edge looks about straight, and then apply the jointer. Be 
careful to keep the edge of the board at a right angle with the side 
by using the try-square. In jointing a board or plank, beginners 
— ^and many old workmen, too — plane oJBP the edges near the 
ends, in starting their plane and in running out, so that the edges 
are convex from end to end. "When a workman is apt to fall into 
this error in jointing, he should not allow his plane to cut within 
a foot of the end, until it seems highest at the end. Some work- 
men think if they cut a shaving the entire length of a board it 
must be straight. But one may plane a shaving the entire 
length of a short or long board, and it may not be straight by 
half an inch. When the workman cannot tell by a glance of 
the eye over the edge of a board whether it is straight or 
not, he had better, if the edge of a board is a little rounding or 
hollowing, strike a line on the side of it with a very small chalk 
line, and then, with the drawing-knife and planes, it can be made 
straight very easily and quickly. Some pretty good joiners 
cannot tell always, simply by the eye, whether the edges of two 
boards will make a close joint when placed together. The be- 
ginner may find it to his advantage to place the edges of two 
boards together when he is jointing them, and then he wiU be 
able to discover without any difi&culty, how much must be planed 
off in order to make a close joint. 

580. Some mechanics, when they look over the edge of a 
board, cannot tell with accuracy whether it is convex, concave, 
undulating, or entirely straight. And when it is undulating 
they cannot go and put their finger on the highest point of the 
edge of the board. The chief reason of this failure is, they 
close one eye, when looking at the edge of a board, and then 
endeavor to keep the eye on the highest place, until they can get 
to it with the plane. This is all well enough. But when they 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 397 

come to open the eye that was closed the vision is so affected 
that the exact point is lost sight of for a moment, and it is 
impossible to determine where it is. The best and most correct 
way is, to look with both eyes open, as they always are, and 
then the exact point can be kept in view until the workman can 
reach it with the plane. It will require a little practice and 
ingenuity to look over the edge of a board with both eyes open 
and determine whether it is straight or not. But in order to do 
it, the head must be placed in such a position that the edge can 
be seen with one eye only. Then it will not be difficult to keep 
the eye oh any point on the edge of a board, until the workman 
can step to it with his plane. In looking at anything, which is 
often expressed by different mechanics as " ranging" ^^ squinting," 
'■^sighting" or " shooting" in order to discover whether it is straight 
or not, it is always best to keep both eyes open ; because the 
vision is less perfect when one eye is closed. And if a person 
becomes accustomed to " take sight " with both eyes open, it will 
be found a better way than to close one eye. 

581. In jointing the end of a board or plank with the square 
and sharp point of a knife, cut a deep mark on each side of it, 
and then with the drawing-knife shave the end almost to the 
marks, and afterwards use the jointer or smoothing-plane. Never 
shove the plane entirely across the end, lest it stave ofif slivers 
from the opposite corner. Place the board in the vise, if it is a 
short one, and if a long one, lay one end of it on a low bench on 
the edge, and joint the end while standing astride of it. Have 
the plane iron very sharp for this purpose. If these directions be 
strictly followed, there will be no more difficulty in making the 
joints of a box water-tight at the ends, than there is on the sides 
of it. 

CHISELS. 

" Chisels here, with faces bright, 
Framers, firmers, heavy, light, 
Corner-chisels, duck-bill, too, 
True and crooked, now we view. 

582. Fig. 156 represents a face view of a good framing-chisel. 



898 



THE YOUNG FAKMEli's MANUAL. 



Figs. 156, 



157, 



158, 



159. 



a 



FBAMBB. 



FIBMEB. 



COENEE CHISEL. 



DUCK-BILL OHISBL. 



a is the face of the blade, h is the socket-shank, which receives 
the handle, which has an iron ring on the top of it to keep it 
from splitting. 

Fig. 157 exhibits a face view of. a firmer chisel, which is 
usually made of the hest of steel, — blade, shank, and all. Such 
chisels are designed for light work, such as hanging doors, and 
for shaving and fitting by hand without a mallet. 

583. Fig. 158 is a perspective view of a corner chisel, which 
is worth a score of common chisels for mortising. As such 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 899 

chisels are seldom kept on hand at hardware stores, get one 
forged, with the wings at a right angle, which will cost about 
seventy -five cents. Take it, before it is tempered, to a machine- 
shop, and have the hlade planed true, at a right angle, both on 
the face and hack. Have the edges planed down so that each 
wing will be about seven-eighths of an inch wide, so that it can 
be used in making inch mortises. After tempering it, grind it on 
a stone that runs very true, and whet it like any otlier chisel. 
File the basil in the corner to the desired depth with a triangular 
file. Do not file ofi" the 2^'>'ojecting point at the middle of the 
basil, as that will aid very much in mortising. Planing it and 
tempering it will cost not over forty cents. 

584. The superiority of such a chisel, when compared with 
straight chisels, is this ; in heading down a mortise, it makes a 
clean, true cut in the corner, and a workman can mortise very 
much faster with it than with another chisel, and a heginner can 
make a very good mortise with it when he would not have suffi- 
cient skill to make a mortise " half-way decent " with a straight 
chisel. (See Making Mortises, in next vol.) 

585. Fig. 159 represents a side or edge view of a duck-hill 
chisel, which is designed for making deep mortises, and is ground 
about as every kind of chisels should be ground. 



FORMS OP CHISELS, AND GRINDING THEM. 

586. No mechanic can mortise well and easily if his chisels 
are not of a good shape and well sharpened. In order to have 
a chisel enter a mortise easily and not stick, so that it is difficult 
to withdraw it, it must be a trifle wider at the cutting edge than it 
is at the upper end of the blade. When a chisel is narrower at 
the cutting edge, like Fig. 163, it will hind so tightly in a mor: 
tise that it will be difficult to withdraw it. If the two side edges 
are exactly parallel with each other, like the blades of 156 anc^ 
157, they will stick in mortising but little. In order to have a 
chisel enter- straight inwards, the face should be as straight as 
shown at Fig. 162, which is an edge view of a framer. Never 
17* 



400 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 



grind the edge of a chisel Hke Fig. 161 ; because, when of such 
a form it is very difficult to mortise true with them. Chisels are 
sometimes made and sometimes hent like Fig. 160. But they 
are very awkward, inconvenient tools to mortise with, because 
the edge will always nm inwards from the mark, making a mor* 

Figs. 160, 161, 162, 163. 




MANNER OF GBINDINO CHISELS. 



tise larger in the middle of it. The side edges of every chisel 
should be ground at a right angle with the face. If they are 
bevelled but little either way from the face, they will stich when 
mortising. If the face and side edges are polished as they should 
be, so that you can see the color of your eyes in them, and kept 
oiled when mortising, they will never stick. Rough, untrue 
chisels make hard work in mortising. 



TURNING-GOUGES AND TURNING-CHISELS 

587. Of all sizes, and firmer-gouges also, may be obtained at 
hardware stores, and are often of great service in ,the farmer's 
workshop. 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 401 

AUQEES AND BITS. 

" An auger once to boring went, 
And bored until the shank was bent ; 
The screw encountered a tough knot, 
And stopped the boring on the spot. 
The pod untwisted, and the hps 
Refused to cut and heave out chips." — Punch. 

588. The principal parts of an auger or bit are, a the screw, h 
the cutters, or lijps, c the pod, or twist, and d the shank. Pointed 
projections on the under side of the Hps of some kinds of augers 
and bits are called spurs. 

589. It will be seen bj these figures that the lips are circular, 
and not square, as most augers are. This is a patentable feature 
in the manufacture of augers and bits, and Mr. Ransom Cooke, 
Saratoga Springs, N. Y., the patentee, informed me that he " re- 
ceives four hundred dollars per month for his claim, during the life 
of the patent, from Messrs. Lamson, Goodnow & Co., Shelburne 
Falls, Mass., who are the sole proprietors for manufacturing this 
kind of augers and bits. I know them to be far superior to any 
other auger that was ever made. They bore with the greatest 
possible ease at any angle of the grain of the wood, without crush- 
ing or breaking and tearing out the wood which adjoins the hole 
bored. These augers now stand without a successful rival in the 
world, and can be obtained of any size of the manufacturers, at 
79 Beekman street, N. Y. city. 

590. Fig. 166 represents a small bit, with a single hp and a 
single twist ; and for boring any kind of wood it is infinitely su- 
perior to a centre-bit. (See Patent Extension Bit, Fig. 123.) 

SHARPENING AUGERS AND BITS 

591. Is usually done with a file, while the pod is held in the 
vise. The hps should be filed at as acute an angle as will be 
consistent with strength on the upper side, and on the under side 
they should be filed as flat as possible and have the cutting edge 
a little more prominent than it is back of the edge. This style of 
augers and bits should be filed with a very fine round file. When 
augers have spurs, the spurs should never be filed on the outside, 



Figs. 164, 



165, 



166. 




DOCTBLE-UP AUGER. 



DOUBUB-UP BIT. 



SINGtB-UP BIT. 



(402) 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 403 

but always on the inside, so that they will mark out the size of 
the hole, and cut so large that the pod will not hind, or be 
" pinched " in the hole. As augers and bits cut with a crushing 
stroke, (see Par. 543) after filing the lips whet them a little with 
a small piece of oil-stone, to give them a keen edge. 

DEFECTIVE AUGERS AND BITS. 

592. Good augers and bits are sometimes rendered almost 
worthless by improper filing. If the under side of the lips is 
more prominent hack of the cutting edge than at the edge, the 
screw will not draw it in, and a workman must necessarily hear 
on in boring. (See the remedy, Par. 591.) Sometimes the screw 
has become very dull, and needs a little filing in order to make it 
draw in when boring. Sometimes the pod is larger than the hole 
which the lips cut ; and sometimes it has been bent a little, so 
that it hinds on one side of the hole. In either case the pod 
must be dressed off true, so that it will not bind in the hole. 
Sometimes one lip cuts a chip twice as thick as the other. Bore 
a hole close to the end of a stick, so that you can see which lip 
cuts the thickest, and file it off a little on the under side. Should 
the screw of a large auger get broken off, if there is substance 
enough in the auger another screw may be put in for a few dimes 
by a gunsmith or watchmaker. 

BORING HOLES. 

593. In order to bore holes straight and true, the stick to be 
bored should lay about level, both endways and sideways ; for an 
auger can be kept in a vertical position much easier than it can 
be inclined a little to correspond with the inclination of a stick 
that does not lie level. Carpenters, when framing a building, 
always want their timber to lie as nearly level as practicable, so 
that they will be able to bore the pin-holes more exact. In bor- 
ing a hole diagonally, the tyro will be able to bore it truer if the 
stick be held level one way and inclined the other way, so as to 
bring the auger in a vertical position. In boring a hole length- 
ways through a stick, put it in the vise and plumb it, and then 



404 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

start in the auger and plumb that also, and keep it in an erect 
position until the auger has entered the length of the pod, when 
if the pod be true the auger will run very straight through. In 
this way I have often bored a hole through a piece of scantling 
twice the length of the auger, by boring at both ends. After an 
auger has entered the length of the pod, the chips should be cleared 
oat often, especially in green timber, by turning the auger back- 
wards just enough to loosen the screw, and then drawing it 
straight out, turning it forward as it is drawn out. If it be turned 
backward it works the chips towards the bottom of the hole. Some- 
times an auger refuses to bore, in consequence of a shaving get- 
ting on the cutting edge ; and sometimes the screw will fill with 
wood, and will not draw the auger in. This may be prevented 
by filing the screw a little, and by sharpening the cutting edge. 
If this does not remove the defect entirely, oil the screw, and bear 
on the auger a little when boring. 

594. In boring pump logs, or wooden tubes which may be 
eight or twelve feet long, or anything else of that description, a 
long lathe is necessary, or something equivalent to it, by which 
means the centre of each end of the stick and the screw of the 
auger and the end of the shank will all range exactly in a 
straight line. But the auger must be drawn out often, lest the chips 
clog so firmly that there will be difficulty in withdrawing it at aU. 

595. The neatest auger for this business consists of a pod some 
eight or ten feet long, made very true, fitted neatly to turn in an 
iron tube of the same length as the pod. The tube may be two 
or more inches in diameter, and the lips of the auger cut a hole 
just large enough for the tube to enter easily ; and the chips are 
all brought out through the tube. Such an auger will bore 
very true, and will not clog. The lips of such an auger cut a 
hole just as large as the tube. This arrangement was patented, 
and is now in use by a man in Elmira, N. Y. 

596. The tyro should be very careful, in boring hard wood, 
not to thrust the shank of the auger or bit sideways, from right to 
left, when first starting it in, because there is danger of bending 
or breaking the screw. 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAI-. 



405 



597. There are many patent devices for attaching augers to 
the handles ; but I shall notice none of them, because they in- 
crease the cost of an auger too much, A thin plate of iron 
screwed on the under side of the handle, with a square hole in it 
just large enough to receive the end of the auger shank, which 
is passed through the handle and secured on the upper side by a 
small nut and screw, is about as good a device, all things consid- 
ered, as any one can desire. Keep augers sharp and bright, and 
it is good fun for boys to bore. 

598. When bits cannot be used with the brace, nTake a small 
handle for them, and use them as a gimlet. 



Figs. 167, 168. 




AWLS. 

599. Fig. 167 is a harness-awl, for 
making holes in leather. From the 
point to the part where it begins to ta- 
per it is ground rather flat, so that the 
edges will cut when entering the leather. 
A round awl does not enter leather 
easily. 

600. Fig. 168 is a hrad-awl, for 
making holes in wood. The edge is 
made square across the awl, in order to 
cut off the grain of the wood as it en- 
ters. A pointed round awl will split a 
stick when such an awl would not. 

601. Scratch-awls should always 
have a round point. Harness -awls 
and brad-awls should be whet on an 
oil-stone, else they will not enter ea- 
sily. All such awls can be obtained 
at the hardware stores for two or 
three cents each. 



HARNBSS-A-WX. 



BRAD-AWL. 



406 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

SAWS. 

" The saw hangs glittering in the quiet shade, 
With sharp and grinning teeth, and burnished blade. 
The well-set teeth laugh at the stubborn oaks. 
And knots and gnarls yield to its potent strokes. 

Now starting, and stopping, and darting. 

And ripping, and slitting, and splitting, 

Dividing, and cleaving, and riving. 

And shivering, and quivering, and slivering, 
Inspiring with terror, amazement and awe : 
Such are the manoeuvres cut up by a saw." — Edwards. 

.TECHNICALITIES IN RELATION TO SAWS. 

602. Hanging a saw means, putting it in the frame or gate 
previous to using it, or fitting a buzz saw to a journal or mandrel. 
The two irons on the mandrel which hold the saw in its posi- 
tion are called the flanges^ or collars. The collar which is keyed 
fast to the mandrel is called the fixed collar, and the other one 
the loose collar. The distance from one tooth to another is called 
the space. Gumming a saw is the act of making the spaces 
deeper, or wider and deeper, according to the shape of the teeth. 
The face of the teeth is the edge which is forward when the saw 
is in use. The hack of the teeth is the edge opposite to the face. 
The hook or pitch of the teeth is the inclination of the face of 
the teeth forward from a line drawn at a right angle with the 
cutting edge, or points of the teeth. Setting a saw is the act of 
spreading the points of the teeth, either by hammering or bend- 
ing them sideways, so as to make the saw cut a kerf wider than 
the thickness of the sa,w. Jointing a saw is the act of making 
the points of the teeth true^ both on the edge and on the sides 
of the points, so that in a buzz saw every tooth will extend just 
so far from the centre of motion. The roots of the teeth are 
the bases of them at the bottom of the spaces. The rake of a 
saw is the inclination of the cutting edge forward towards the 
timber to be sawed. This is only applied to saws which work 
up and down, or horizontally. Fleam-pointed^ or fleaming^ means 
having the teeth filed on the face and back diagonally. A circular 
saw is said to be fast when the rim is largest, which is caused 
by stretching the edge when gumming it. When a saw deviates 



I 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 407 

from a straight course in sawing off a stick, it is said to run. 
The young farmer should make himself famihar with each of these 
terms, as they will often be used in the succeeding paragraphs. 

NAMES OF DIFFERENT KINDS OF SAWS. 

603. Saws that are circular on the cutting-edge are denomi- 
nated sometimes buzz saws, or crosscut-circular , or slitting-circulary 
according to the form of the teeth. Hand-saws are denominated 
hand-crosscut, or hand-slitting, or panel saws, according to the 
form of their teeth. Saws that have their backs inserted in a 
bar of brass or iron are called back, or tenon saws. A compass 
saw has a narrow, tapering blade, with a handle on one end for 
sawing round holes in anything. Saws that are used by two 
men when sawing logs are called crosscut, or crosscut log saws. 
(Any saw that is filed to cut across the grain of wood is called a 
crosscut, and when filed square across the teeth, slitting, or rip 
saws.) Saws that are used for sawing logs into short cuts for 
staves, or shingles, or firewood, when attached to a pitman are 
called crosscut-butting saws, or drag saws. Felly, or felloe saws 
are put in a frame and filed to cut both crossways and length 
ways of the grain of wood. Pit saws are long, two-men saws, 
for slitting long timber, while one man stands on the timber, 
and the other beneath the stick that they are sawing. Billet 
or wood-sawyer'' s saws, are put in a frame for sawing fire-wood 
Bow, or billet-web saws, are put in a small frame and strained 
and used for sawing circular work. Cast-steel webs are used for 
sawing iron and brass. Mulay, or "mooly" saws, are used in 
sawmills where the pitman is attached to one end of the saw, 
and the saw is not hung in a gate. There are many other 
kinds of saws which we will not notice here. 

SELECTING SAWS, AND THE EXTERNAL SIGNS OF GOOD SAWS 
AND POOR ONES, AND NUMBER OF TEETH IN SAWS. 

604, In selecting a saw of any kind, it is always the wisest 
policy to get a good one, even if it be a little more costly. A 
poor saw is always a source of vexation and loss to any one who 



408 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MAXUAL. 

has much sawing to do ; and a man never regrets having paid a 
few dimes more for a good saw. 

605. A good saw is usually distinguished by a bright polish — 
a clear and lively ring — -freedom from flaws in the hlade and 
in the teeth — its great elasticity, and a good degree of hardness. 
A coarse-looking, leaden-colored, dull-sounding, non-elastic, pew- 
ter-plate, coarsely-polished saw should be avoided. A hard saw 
is worth a score of soft ones. A saw that is so soft when it is 
filed that a thin sheet of steel hangs to the edge of the teeth, is 
a poor thing. The two ends of a good hand-saw, or a crosscut 
saw, if the blade is not too thick, may be brought together with- 
out any danger of kinking or breaking it. A saw that will kink 
very easily is not as good as it would be if it were harder. Such 
a saw will never retain its set of the teeth like a harder one. 

606. Another thing of great importance in selecting a saw is," 
to select one that has teeth, many or few, adapted to the kind 
of sawing to be done. The materials which a farmer has to saw 
are so variable, that it is best for him to select a hand-saw for 
ordinary purposes having a pretty stiff plate, and about seven 
teeth to the inch. A saw with fine teeth will cut much smoother 
than a saw with coarse teeth. Indeed, for some kinds of sawing 
a saw with coarse teeth would do the work intolerably bad ; while 
if the same saw had four times as many teeth it would saw neatly, 
and just as fast, and sometimes much faster, with the same 
power. If the materials to be sawed be of good thickness, the 
teeth should be farther apart ; and if the materials be small, or 
thin, the teeth must be fine, else they will take too rank a hold, 
making a very rough, jagged cut. For sawing hard wood, both 
across and lengthways of the grain of the wood, a saw with fine 
teeth is best. A hand-saw, whose teeth are half an inch or three- 
eighths of an inch apart is an ugly thing to saw a thin, hard board 
with, or even hard plank. The teeth of a saw, for any purpose, 
ought to be so fine that not less than four, in sawing soft wood, 
and six or eight in hard wood, shall be cutting at once. In slit- 
ting hard plank, the teeth must be fine or the work will be very 
rough. The reason of this is, when the teeth are far apart eacli 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 409 

tooth is made to cut deeper than it is capable of cutting without 
staggering or springing aside ; and when the cut of a saw is all 
notched and jagged, it is very evident that each tooth is made to 
cut too deep. If the plate of a saw is very thin, the teeth must 
be fine, else it will spring, and work badly. If the plate is a 
thick one, the teeth may be farther apart without danger of 
springing, but the cut will not be as smooth as if there were 
more teeth. A saw having fine teeth will require more filing and 
setting, but it will do the work enough better to compensate for 
any extra expense in putting it in order. 

607. The teeth in circular saws from twenty to thirty inches 
in diameter, for cutting firewood, ought not to be more than an 
inch or an inch and a fourth apart to work the best, taking hard 
wood and soft, large and small, together. Each tooth can cut 
only a certain distance to good advantage, and this distance is 
in proportion to the hardness or softness of the timber. In saw- 
ing soft wood, if there are a great many teeth the saw-dust is cut 
very fine ; and each tooth does not cut as deep as it should, espe- 
cially if the power is limited. Consequently there is a loss of power. 

608. A buzz slaw, for slitting boards and plank, for both hard 
and soft timber, should have rather fine teeth, where smooth work 
is any object, unless the velocity with which such a saw revolves 
is unusually great. (See V^elocity of Saws, 680.) A tenon 
saw for ordinary purposes should have about eight teeth in an 
inch. Such a saw will cut about right for sawing the limbs of 
trees preparatory to grafting. 

609. Circular shtting saws, as a general thing, have too few 
teeth to do smooth work, unless the materials to be slit are pretty 
thick. In a saw forty-eight inches in diameter, for sawing soft 
wood good sawyers say there should be about twenty -four to 
thirty teeth, and for hard wood about forty teeth. A small circular 
saw ten or twelve inches in diameter, for slitting hard wood plank 
and boards, should have the points of the teeth about half an 
inch apart. The thinner the blade the finer the teeth must be. 

610. I am now using a circular saw about one foot in diame- 
ter, the teeth of which were about three inches apart at the cut- 



410 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

ting edge. It was impossible to slit hard timber smooth with it 
imtil I cut the teeth all away and made new ones in it about half 
an inch apart. Now it saws as true and smooth, with the same 
power and velocity, as it is possible for a saw to cut. I used for 
several years a 2 2 -inch circular wood-saw, whose teeth were three 
inches apart at the points, and it always worked very unsatisfac- 
torily. Another one was put in its place, having teeth an inch 
and a fourth apart, and with the same power it would saw nearly 
twice as fast, and do it very smoothly. 

PUTTING SAWS IN ORDER 

611. Is an operation that requires the exercise of much dex- 
terity and mechanical precision. If the teeth are all filed to a 
sharp point, unless they are perfectly even and true on the points, 
a saw will not cut as fast as it ought, nor as fast as it wouldj if it 
were well filed. When a saw is well filed and the teeth set 
properly, by casting the eye over the teeth, lengthways of the 
saw, not the least variation in the length of the teeth can be 
discovered. Where some of the teeth are longer than the rest, 
the long ones only will cut ; and so far as cutting is concerned, 
the short ones might as well not be there. When a few teeth 
only have been dulled, the saw will cut no faster by filing these 
dulled ones to a point, unless the rest of the teeth are jointed off 
and made of a corresponding length. In such instances it would 
be as weU to let them remain as they are until the remainder of 
the teeth need filing. In filing, the aim should be to keep the 
teeth of a uniform shape^ — ^. e., the angle of what is called the 
hook of the teeth, should be retained as much as possible. Many 
farmers, not understanding the importance of this, continue to 
file with a file that is nearly worn out on its corners, and thus 
the hook of the teeth becomes not only very ohtuse, but the teeth 
are not kept as long as they should be. It is poor policy to file 
a saw with a file the corners of which are worn out. It is very 
important that the corners of file should be sharp, in order to 
keep all the teeth as long as possible. If a tooth has been short- 
ened on the point by dulling or filing, it should be filed to its 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 



411 



original length as it is filed to a point. Much care should be ex- 
ercised lest the teeth on one side become smaller and shorter than 
those on the opposite side. Whenever this is the case with a 
saw, the file, in filing, should be pressed harder against the larger 
teeth than against the smaller ones. 

612. It is very important when filing a saw, to have it held 
firmly in a proper position. For this purpose a saw-clamp is 

Fig. 169. Fig. 170. 




w 



f^>) 






£z:s 



SAW-CLAMP. 



END VIEW. 



necessary, a perspective and end view of which is represented by- 
Fig. 169, with a saw in it. a is a heavy plank, two inches thick 
or thicker, a foot wide and three feet long. Fig. 1 70 is an end view 
of the same, h h are four standards, one and a half by four inches 
square, of hard wood, driven into mortises in a, and are about 
eight inches long, c c are the jaws, about four feet long, and 
fastened to the upper ends of h b, by mortise and tenon, d d 
are screws, which pass through h b. They may be nothing but 
iron bolts. The standards b b should be about one-eighth of an 
inch apart, to give room for a saw. Put the saw in the clamp 
and screw up the jaws, and if the clamp is not heavy enough to 
remain still when filing, bolt it to the bench. If the jaws are 
straight and true, they will press against the saw from one end 
to the other. If the saw rattles or works between the jaws, 
they are not true, and must be straightened. 

PUTTING HAND-SAWS IN ORDER. 

613. Put the saw in the clamp with the teeth extending a 
little above the jaws. Always have the clamp set as level as 
practicable, and never attempt to file a saw in a place where it 
is not as light as is desirable. It is very important to have 



412 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

enough light^ that the points of all the teeth may be seen dis- 
tinctly. No man can expect to file a saw well when the light is 
dim. Sometimes one can file by candle-light, if he has good sight, 
quite as well as by daylight. In dark, cloudy days, the clamp 
can be carried out of doors when filing ; but it should always be 
placed in a level position. 

614. Now, the idea is, to file just so deep between every two 
teeth, and to file the face and hack (see Technicalities, Par. 
602) at a given angle, and to have the teeth on both sides of the 
saw of equal length and size. Cast the eye over the teeth, and 
if some of them are longer than others the teeth must be jointed. 

HOW TO JOINT SAWS. 

615. Put a saw in the clamp as for filing, and, holding a large 
file in the hands with the flat side doiun, and level, run it along as 
you would a plane on the points of the teeth, until the long ones 
are all filed off on the points even with the short ones. Great 
care should be exercised in jointing a saw, and not joint off the 
teeth on one side of the saw more tlian they are jointed ofi" on the 
other side. Run the file from end to end of the saw, and exam- 
ine it at every stroke to see if the teeth are not jointed off 
enough. One careless stroke in jointing, or one stroke too much» 
will cause much unnecessary filing. 

616. To Joint a circular saw, set it to running moderately by 
hand backwards, and hold a large file on a plank placed close to 
the edge of the saw, so that the longest teeth as they revolve 
Avill touch the file. Place the edge of the plank at a right angle 
with the saw, in order to have some guide for holding the file at 
a right angle. If this particular is not strictly observed, the saw 
will not be round. 1 have seen workmen, when jointing circular 
saws, hold their file so unskillfuUy that all the short teeth as well 
as the long ones, were jointed off, and the saw was no more 
round than it was when they commenced jointing it. Hold the 
file firmly, and move it towards the teeth only a hair's-lreadth at 
a time. 

FILING SAWS. 

617. After having put the saw in the clamp, as in the figure, 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 418 

and placed it on a bench that will bring the teeth about as high 
as "the pit of your stomach," put tjie shank of the file in a 
handle not less than one foot long, and put it in as true as prac- 
ticable. The beginner will be able to hold his file more correctly 
with a long handle than with a short one. Now, hold the file 
firmly, so that it will not turn to the right nor to the left, and 
file every tooth to a point ; and as soon as a tooth is filed to a 
point, do not give it another stroke. Great care and skill are 
necessary when fihng with a triangular file, lest while one tooth 
is being filed, the tooth on the opposite side of the file should get 
filed off too much. Always make the strokes from you ; and 
when a tooth is almost to a point, make each stroke with precision 
and care, and rather slowly. 

THE PROPER ANGLE FOR FILING THE FACE OF THE TEETH 

618. For cutting across the grain, varies very much among 
different filers. The work to be done with a saw must determine, 
in a measure, the proper angle for filing the face of the teeth. 
If the wood be hard, and knotty, and gnarly, the teeth must be 
filed for chipping or removing the sawdust. And the best kind 
of tooth for removing sawdust is one that is filed square across 
on the face. But a tooth filed square across on the face of it 
will not cut off the fibres of the wood well ; therefore, the face 
of the teeth must be filed more or less diagonally. If filed very 
diagonally on the face, the teeth will be very fleaming^ or fleam- 
pointed. (See Technicalities.) When filed of this shape, they 
cut very fast, but they remove the core very slowly. Some men 
prefer to file four teeth or six teeth very fleam-pointed, at an 
angle of about forty or forty -five degrees on the face, and then 
file one tooth square on the face for taking out the core, leaving 
the point a little shorter than the others. For all kinds of work, 
for hard and for soft wood, when a man keeps but one saw, if 
the teeth be filed at an angle of about ten or fifteen degrees on the 
face, it will be found to subserve the best purpose for hand-saws. 
If a man keeps a slitting -s^^w^ his crosscut hand-saw may be filed 
a little more fleaming on the face of the teeth. "When the wood 



414 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

to be sawed is all soft wood, a saw will cut the fastest if four 
teeth — two on each side — are filed quite fleaming on the /ace, 
and every fifth tooth filed square across it on the face and back, 
without setting them. When teeth are all filed very fleaming, 
and none filed square to clean out the chip or core, it will be 
necessary to bear on in sawing. 

619. Slitting-saws are always filed square across on the face of 
the teeth, and usually square on the hack of them ; although 
some filers contend that it is better to file a little fleaming on the 
backs at the points. As it is very difl&cult for beginners to retain 
the proper angle in all the teeth, and to file every tooth of exactly 
such a size and form, with nothing but the eye for a guide, 

A SAW-FILER, 

620. A perspective view of which is shown at Fig. 171, is 
found to be a very useful implement. With such a filer, any 




FaRGUSON. ALB. 

S.VW-FILER. 



farmer can file hi.s saws in a most complete manner, giving every 
tooth exactly a certain angle, both on the face and back, and of a 
given hook, and just so long and no longer, nor shorter ; and 
besides, if every tooth is filed to a point, the saw will be neatly 
jointed. It consists of a clamp like Fig. 169, with an iron plate, 
a, screwed firmly to the jaw of the clamp, h is an iron slide, which 
is neatly fitted by notches or gains to the true edges of a, which 
is slid along the jaw, back and forth, from end to end, by the 
endless set-screw and wheel c, fastened in front of the iron plate 
a. d is the handle of the iron plate which holds the file which 
plays back and forth in the iron post E^ whicli is fastened to an 



' ■■ 



THE YOUNG FARMER S MANUAL. 



415 



adjustable iron plate, which is bolted to the slide h. / is a thumb 
set-screw, to regulate the proper depth to file the teeth. H is 
another set-screw, for holding the file at any desired angle. 

621. When a saw is filed with such a filer, put it in the clamp 
very true, with one end just as high above the jaws as the other. 
Adjust the file to file hooked or not, and, with the set-screw and 
wheel, run the slide h to one end of the clamp. Now, adjust the 
post E by the thumb-screw on the lower end, to hold the file at 
the desired angle. File the teeth on one side of the saw, and 
carry the post E around, so as to bring the file at the same angle 
in the opposite direction. After having filed one tooth, turn the 
set wheel around once or twice, more or less, according to the 
size of the teeth, which will draw the slide h along just so far. 
If the slide is drawn along only a trifle too far at one time, and 
not quite so far the next time, the teeth wiU not all be of a uni- 
form length. The file is so hung that in thrusting from you it 
will cut, and can be raised a little when drawing it back. There 
are several styles of patent filers. The proprietor of this one is 
Mr. H. Miller, Ithaca, N. Y., who will furnish both filers and 
rights to manufacture. 

622. Fig. 172 exhibits a section of a slitting hand-saw well 
filed. It will be seen by the figure that the faces of the teeth 

> Fig. 172. 



surnxG-SAW well filed. 



are at right angles to the cutting edges, or points, and are all 
filed square across. It is not practicable to saw across the grain 
with a saw filed in this manner. 

613. Fig. 173 is a crosscut section of a hand-saw well filed. 
The faces of the teeth are at right angles with the dotted lines 
along the points. Many filers contend, that if the faces of the 
18 



416 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 



teeth are filed at right angles they will be too hooked. But if 
filed in this style a saw will cut much faster and easier, and it 

Fig. 173. 



;i ■^IS^WWWHN^ 



CKO&«Cl'T WELL FILED. 



coincides with the manner of filing adopted by our best me- 
chanics. 

624, Fig. 174 shows a saw ladly filed ; but it is an exact rep- 

FiG. 174. 




BADLY nLED. 



resentation of many saws that have been filed by those who do 
not understand the principle on which saws are sharpened. By 
a glance at the dotted line along the edge it will be seen that a few 
teeth only must do all the sawing. (See Par. 611.) I have 
taken this figure from a saw that was brought to me to be filed ; and 
some parts of it had been filed worse than this. It had been filed 
with old worn-out files until its proprietor found it impossible to 
cut off a narrow board with it. 

625, Now in order to put it in sawahle order it was put in the 
clamp and jointed, and all of the teeth started in filing of the 
proper form, and then the teeth were set. It is not always most 
advisable to restore such teeth to the most proper form at one fil- 
ing unless one has much sawing to perform. If a saw-filer is 
used it will be much easier to restore the correct form of the teeth 
than it will be when filing by hand, A\^hen filing such a saw by 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 



417 



hand, after it has been jointed place a try-square against the edge, 
and with the sharp point of a file make a scratch across the blade 
^or the face of each tooth, as shown by the dotted lines Figs. 172 
and 173, and then file the teeth only in part to a point the first 
time across from end to end. Some filers always change ends 
with a saw after filing one side. But it is of little consequence 
how a man files, if he only does it in a workmanlike manner. 
After a saw has been filed, in order to have it cut a kerf a httle 
wider than the blade the points of the teeth must be set. 



setting saws. 
Figs. 175, 170, 177. 




CBOSS SECTIONS OF SAWS. 



626. Fig. 175 represents a cross section of a saw with the 
points of the fleam-pointed teeth set, showing the cleaners^ or 
teeth that are filed square across. (See Par. 653.) 

627. Fig. 176 is a section of saw in which all the teeth have 
been set. When a saw is well filed it will appear Hke these fig- 
ures when viewed endways, and a cambric needle may be slid 
along between the points of the teeth, from one end of a saw to 
the other. 

628. Fig. 177 is a section of a saw, the teeth of which are set 
more than they ought to be for the thickness of the plate ; and 
the whole teeth having been set too much, the points have been 
luorn off^ so that it will work very hard, and perhaps not at all 
without great power. This shows the importance of setting as 
little of the points as practicable. 

629. There are two kinds of set for saw teeth, — lent set and 



418 THE YOUNG FARMEB's MANUAL. 



swedged set. Bent set is used for both crosscut and slitting-saws ; 
but swedged set is used only for saws that cut lengthways of the 
grain. There are two kinds of hent set, but we shall notice but 
one in this work. 

630. The least possible amount of set, in either a crosscut or 
ripping-saw, and have the saw work easily, is the best. The 
greater the amount of set the wider will be the kerf; and the 
wider the kerf the greater must be the power to drive a saw. 
Soft wood requires more set than hard wood. A good saw often 
does bad work in consequence of too much set. If there is too 
much set, a saw will sometimes run in consequence of it ; and 
sometimes, especially if the feed is heavy, if there is too much 
set, a saw will often make a rough and jagged cut, which makes 
a saw run hard. 

631. The rudest and simplest mode of setting a saw is, to lay 
the blade of it on a smooth end of a block of hard wood, and with 
a punch and hammer bend the point of every other tooth by a 
single blow, and then turn the saw over and set the other side, 
being careful to place the punch on each tooth in the same place, 
and to gauge the force of eacli blow as nearly as may be. If the 
Figs. 178 179. punch is placed near the points of some teeth 

and near the roots of others, the teeth will be 
- mij set very unevenly. Two or three teeth on each 

n. IB side should be set near the end of the saw ^rsi^JBj 

rao^ m, and then, if there appears to be too little or too^| 

much set in these teeth, let the blows be lighter 
or heavier, as may be necessary. ^« 

632. Fig. 178 represents an edge-view of a 
slitting-saw having the teeth set by bending th 
points. 



1 



BD6E VIEW OF SLIT 
TING-SAWS, 



633. Fig, 179 is an edge-view of a slitting- 
saw having the teeth set, or spread, by swedging. 
It is not practicable to set small saws by swedg 
. ing the points. 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 419 

SAW SETS, 

634. Of many different styles, may be obtained at hardware 
stores. It matters little what the set is, if it will only set all the 
teeth true. Bow-sslws, 5^7Ze^saws, and all other saws having a 
very narrow blade, must sometimes be set with a punch, or nail 
set. (See Par. 631.) 

635. Fig. 180 represents a punch for setting a rip-saw, which 

Fig. 180. 




is made of steel, and well hardened, with an iron band around it, 
near the crotched end, to prevent its splitting. The fork is made 
with a triangular file, while the steel is yet soft, of an angle more 
obtuse than the saw teeth, and left a little crowning at the bot- 
tom of the fork, from side to side. Before the set is hardened, 
make the crotch a little deeper with a sharp cold-chisel, to pre- 
vent dulling the points of the teeth. 

636. To set with a crotched punch after the saw has been 
jointed and filed, let the punch be held steadily and firmly against 
the point of the tooth, parallel with the side of the saw, and with 
light blows with a hammer weighing about a pound, (with a still 
lighter hammer if the teeth be small,) spread the points of the 
teeth like the tail of a dove (Fig. 179), both ways from the cen- 
tre. Heavy blows will be liable to hend the teeth. As the crotch 
of the punch is a little convex lengthways of it, by varying the 
position of the punch the point of the tooth may be spread to the 
required extent. After the points are spread enough, the cutting 
edge of each tooth may be drawn out with the hammer by hold- 
ing a heavy piece of iron firmly against the face or bottom of the 
tooth. This operation saves a vast amount of filing. In spread- 
ing the teeth of a circular saw, the set may be gauged by allow- 
ing the saw to revolve slowly, when every tooth must be spread 
sufficiently to just touch the end of a stick of hard wood. In 



420 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

case a tooth should get set a little too much, the side of the point 
may be dressed off a little with a file, being careful to have the 
side edge of the face of the teeth more prominent than they are 
hack of the face edges. If there should be any play of the man- 
drel endways, it must be held against one shoulder of the bearing 
while it is being set. This mode of setting will make a circular 
saw of uneven thickness, or that has little Tcinks in it, cut much 
truer, and work easier, than if the set of the teeth were gauged 
by the side of the saw plate. The teeth of circular saws for cut- 
ting across the grain of wood, the points of which are spread by 
bending instead of swedging, may be gauged in setting by the end 
of a stick instead of the side of the plate. ^ 

637. A saw set that is used for hending teeth should have not 
only a set-screw to gauge the amount of set, but should have a 
brass or copper plate for the points of the teeth to rest against 
when the saw is being set, which plate may be adjusted to allow 
the teeth to enter the set just so far and no farther. A saw set 
that has no adjustable plate, but receives some teeth half their 

•length, and only the points of others, is an improper instrument 
to set teeth with. If a saw set, for instance, takes hold of one 
tooth near its point, and bends it as much as the gauge-screw 
will admit of, and if the set is then put on the next tooth farther 
than it was on the first tooth, the teeth on which the set was 
placed the farthest, will receive the most set, even if the set- 
screw is made to touch the plate alike in setting each individual 
tooth. 

638. There is great danger, in setting the teeth of saws which 
have a high temper, or which are very hard, of breaking them, 
especially in cold weather. Whenever a hard saw or a thick one 
is to be set, it should be well warmed before any teeth arc set. 
The teeth of some good saws when t\Lej are very cold will snap 
almost like glass when we attempt to set them. The best way 
to warm the teeth is, to pour hot water on them before setting) 
unless the saw can be taken into a warm room. This apphes not 
only to circular saws, but to aU kinds of long saws ; and the tyro 
will ever regret that he did not warm his saw previous to setting 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 421 

the teeth, after having broken several teeth of a good saw in 
consequence of not warming it. 

639. The teeth of a very soft saw will require more set than a 
hard saw of the same thickness ; because, in the hard saw the 
edge is more perfect, and the cut of such a saw of course will be 
cleaner and smoother. On the contrary, a very coarse edge, 
instead of cutting the fibres of wood smoothly, tears them in 
two, leaving the sides of the kerf very rough, which makes a 
saw work hard. Avoid setting the teeth too wide in any saw. 

640. Tor take the set out of a saw which has too much set in 
the teeth, lay it on a smooth stick of timber, and lay a hard, 
smooth plank on the sides of the teeth, and strike on it with a 
heavy hammer ; or, use a set, 

TWO-HAND CROSSCUT SAWS. 

641. Fig. 181 represents a two-hand crosscut saw, with teeth 
of a proper form at one end, while at the other end they are repre- 
sented as they are too often filed in old saws which have been 
filed with old files. The dotted hnes show how much should be 
filed out in order to make them of the proper form. Although 
there is the same number of teeth per foot when filed at such 
an obtuse angle as is shown at the left hand, the teeth will 
not cut half as fast as they will when filed like those at the right 

Fig. 181. 




A CK08S-CTJT SAW. 



hand. "When teeth are filed short and Uunt^ they require more 
force to make a saw cut, on the same principle that a man with a 
thin axe will be able to chop faster than he will with one having 
a very thick blade. 

642. The teeth in crosscut saws are almost always too far 
apart to work well. Many a good saw has been spoiled by some 
knowing know-nothing^ who has cut away every alternate tooth 



422 THE YOUNG I'\411MKR's MANUAL. 

with a view to make a saw cut faster. Suppose, for instance, 
that we cut awaj four-fifths of the teeth, how fast will a saw 
cut ? For sawing timber of ordinary size, the teeth should not 
be more than one inch apart. When a saw jumps and jerks 
along, it is very certain evidence that the teeth are too far apart. 
The smaller in diameter the timber is, the closer together the 
teeth should be, in order to work best and smoothest. As the 
teeth of two-hand crosscut saws are filed without any hook, they 
should be filed rather slim and narrow at the base or roots, in 
order to cut the fastest. 

643. Improved two-hand crosscut saws are now manufactured 
with every third tooth formed like a cat^s claw, and filed square 
across, and about a sixteenth of an inch shorter than the others* 
which are filed very fleaming. They are much superior to the 
common kind of saws. 

PUTTING TWO-HAND CROSSCUT SAWS IN ORDER. 

644. Dress out two strips of board, with one edge of each one 
of the same circle as the cutting edge of the saw, and screw 
them together with the saw between them, like Fig. 182, which 
shows a combined clamp and jointer, with the longest teeth of a 
saw extending above the edges of the clamp. The screws are 

Fig. 182. 




A CROSSCUT SAW WITH HANDLES. 



put between the teeth. Adjust the clamp so that the long teeth 
will extend a little above the edge, and with a file dress them 
off even with the edge of the clamp. After it is jointed take 
out the screws, and place the saw in the bench-vise, and file it. 
645. In filing, always endeavor to file the spaces as deep or 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 423 

deeper than thej were originall}^ made. This will keep the teeth 
of a good length, and a saw will never need to be gummed. 
Never file with an old worn-out file ; because, although the teeth 
may be filed to a pointy the spaces will not be deepened ; and in 
a short time it will cost far more to gum a saw than it would to 
keep the teeth of a suitable length bj filing them. If the teeth 
are filed very fleaming, or diagonally, it will be necessary to file 
about every seventh tooth square across^ and a little shorter than 
the others. When all the teeth are filed fleaming, if they are 
filed at a» angle of about ten or fifteen degrees with the face of 
the teeth, they will remove the core or dust as fast as they cut. 

646. After filing, set the points of the teeth a very little. 
The least possible set, and have a saw work easily, will cause it 
to run the truest and the best. If a saw is kept as sharp as it 
ought to be, it will seldom need any more set when cutting soft 
wood, than it will when cutting hard wood. When a saw cuts 
a jagged, rough, uneven cut, it is a sign that the saw is not set 
true, or that the set has been taken out of some of the teeth. 

647. When the whole tooth is set, the set is very liable to be 
taken out by allowing the saw to be pinched between the ends 
of a log when it is nearly sawed in two. This may be the cause 
of its running. Perhaps a few teeth are a trifle sho7'ter on one 
side than on the other, made so either by filing or dulling. In 
this case the teeth should be jointed and filed of an equal length. 
If the set is out and the saw runs towards the top end of the log, 
give the teeth on the opposite side a little more set. In sawing 
logs for staves, spokes, and shingles, it is important that the saw 
run true, else there is danger of sawing one side of the log too 
short. 

HANDLING A CROSSCUT SAW 

648. Requires the exercise of a little activity and agility, else 
the work will be rendered laborious. The hands of the sawer 
should merely hang loosely on the handles, allowing the handle 
freedom to play up and down, as the saw adjusts itself in its pas- 
sage through the log. After a saw has entered a log sufficiently 

18* 



424 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

to keep itself erect, if a sawyer is inclined " to ride," as it is 
called, it would be well to pass a rope or strap of leather around 
the handle for him to pull by. A good sawyer must make 
long, elastic motions with the arms, and let the saw play lively, 
lightly, and freely through the log, and if the saw is in good 
order, the ends of the log will be as true as if they had been 
turned off. Let the saw be kept well-jointed and properly set, 
and not allowed to become rusty, and it will work easy and cut 
fast. 

THE MANNER OF FILING COMPASS SAWS. 

649. Compass saws, and billet- web saws, and such as are used 
in a frame, for sawing felloes, and other circular work, cut as 
much lengthways of the grain as they do crossways ; and if filed 
for crosscutting, they do not work well in sawing lengthways of 
the grain ; and if filed exclusively for ripping, they will not 
work at all when they come to that portion of the circle which 
crosses the grain of the wood. Most mechanics file such saws 
but a little fleaming, but I think they will cut smoother and faster 
by filing every third tooth for ripping^ making it a little shorter 
than the teeth filed fleaming. The object of this is, when the 
saw comes to that part of a circle wliich runs lengthways of the 
grain, teeth filed fleaming will not chip well ; therefore, every 
third tooth being filed for ripping, and not set, will cut away the 
centre of the kerf as fast as the fleaming teeth cut the sides of it. 
Compass and billet-saws being so narrow, they cannot advan- 
tageously be set with an ordinary set, but must be set with a 
nail set, or punch and hammer, by laying them on the square 
end of a block of hard wood, and by giving each tooth an equal 
blow with the hammer, 

650. The blades of compass and all other saws for cutting cir- 
cular work, should be thinner on the lack than they are at the 
cutting edge. When of this form they will turn in sawing a 
small circle with less set than they possibly can when the blade 
is all of a uniform thickness. 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 



425 



CIRCULAR SAWS. 

651. Fig. 183 represents a circular saw with four different 
kinds of teeth. Three kinds, C B, B A, and A D, are for rij)- 
ping, and the portion between D C is for cutting across the 
grain. To find the angle for fihng the face of the teeth, strike a 
circle, the dotted line a, half the diameter of the saw, and a line 
from the points of the teeth to one side of this circle, will give 

Fig. 183. 




A CIBOTTLAB SAW HAVING FOTTIt KUTDS OF TEETH. 



the hooJc of the teeth. The marks may be made with the sharp 
point of a steel file. The angle for the hook of the teeth may be 
more obtuse or acute, as at b, from A to D. The teeth between 
B and C are kept in order with less filing than those with, circu- 




426 THE YOUNG FAKMER's MANUAL. 

lar backs between A and B. Those teeth between A and B are 
the strongest, and if the spaces at the roots of them be filed with J 
a half-round file, the teeth will be still stronger. The backs of 
the teeth for one-fourth or half an inch back from the points, 
accordinsr to the size of the teeth, should be on a line drawn from 
the point of one tooth to a point as much below the point of the 
tooth behind it, as each tooth is required to cut in depth, as at c c. 
If, for example, a saw cuts one inch in one revolution, and has 
forty teeth, the teeth back of the points must be filed below the 
points, so as to be on a line drawn from one-fortieth of an inch 
below one point, c c, to the point of the tooth forward of it. 
Such a shape will allow the teeth to cut just as easily as if the 
backs of them were like those between C and D. The filer 
should be very careful to have the points of the teeth more 
prominent than they are just back of the cutting points. These 
teeth, that are formed like those between A and D, will cut 
very much faster, and with less power than either of the other 
kinds. They seem to cut a kerf through a stick, while teeth 
with less hook scrape or file out the kerf. But teeth of such 
a shape must be made only in a saw of the very best materials, 
and for sawing hard and knotty wood there is great danger of 
breaking them. For all soft wood such teeth work most admi- 
rably. Such teeth must never be bent in setting, but swedged 
with the swedging set. Fig. 180. The teeth between C and D 
are for cutting across the grain. The correct hook is found by 
drawing a line from the points of the teeth to the centre of the 
saw ; or, at a right angle to the cutting edge of the saw. This is 
allowed to be the best angle for the face of all crosscutting saws, 
except such as have no hook to the teeth, like Fig. 181. It is 
of very little consequence so far as cutting is concerned, what 
the shape of the back of a tooth is, if the part back of the point 
is far enough back of, or below the line of motion, in which the 
points move, for all the teeth to enter the wood freely. If the 
back of a tooth be higher than the point, a tooth must wear its 
way through a stick instead of cutting through. 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 427 



JOINTING A CIRCULAR SAW. 

652. If a circular saw is not as round as may be, the teeth on 
one side will cut too deep at each revolution, and on the other 
side will not cut as deep as they ought to cut ; and, therefore, at 
every revolution one side will sometimes take such a rank hold 
as to produce a jar, or spring the teeth, thus making a rough cut. 
Some mechanics use for jointing circular saws, a kind of templet or 
template, one end of which is rested on the collar of the mandrel. 
But that fs not as correct and easy for beginners as the manner 
recommended at Par. 616. When a large circular saw is jointed 
by bein^ made to revolve backwards while a file is held against 
the points, the impact or friction is so intense,, that the teeth will 
wear out a file wherever it touches the saw. When large teeth 
need much jointing, hold a bar of lead near the points for every 
one to touch as they pass it ; lead will not dull them : and then 
file off the points of the long teeth until the facet made by the 
jointing-file on the ends of them, will be even with the points of 
the shortest teeth. Now, set it and file it. 

FILING CIRCULAR SAWS. 

653. The best and most convenient place for filing a circular 
saw is on its mandrel, providing there is sufiicient light to enable 
one to see the points of the teeth. Some mechanics always take 
the saw off the mandrel and put it in a vise when filing. But 
any contrivance wliich will hold a saw firmly on the side which 
is being filed is all that is necessary. I always have used for 
this purpose two sticks, one on each side of the saw, extending 
from the saw to some part of the frame. Every tooth should be 
brought to the top of the saw when it is filed ; because any one 
can file better on the top of a saw than on the sid^s of it. And, 
if every tooth is brought to just such a position before it is filed, 
they are more likely to be filed alike. If the teeth are to be filed 
square across, every tooth may be filed while standing on one side 
of the saw ; but if the teeth are to be filed fieaming or bevel- 
ling, it is better to file the teeth on one side while standing on 



428 THE YOUNG FAEMER'S MANUAL. 

one side of the saw, and to file the other side when standing on 
the opposite side. The same rules hold good for filing circular 
saws that aiu ..l-tTved for filing long saws. A circular saw for 
cutting across tiie grain should have not less than four teeth- 
one on each side of the saw — filed square across, and a little 
shorter than the others, to cut out the chip. These teeth should 
have a good hook. All the teeth should be kept as nearly of a 
size and length as possible; and for this purpose the templet 
(see Fig. 184) should be placed on every tooth before it is filed, 
in order to show whether or not a tooth has the desired shape. 
It is sometimes a very good practice in fihng any kind of saw, 
and especially if it is a very soft saw, to go over all the teeth 
with a very fine file, or with one that is nearly worn out, after 
they have been brought to an edge with a sharp file. This pro- 
cess gives the teeth a more perfect edge. A good fine edge can 
never be obtained with a coarse file, if the strokes be made ever 
so light. The finishing strokes with the file should always be 
made from you^ and if the teeth be fleam-pointed, the strokes of 
the file should be made in the same direction that the teeth are 
bent in setting. My twenty-four-inch circular saw, for cutting 
fire-wood, with teeth an inch and one-fourth apart, is filed fleaming^ 
at an angle of about forty-five degrees ; and every fifth tooth is 
filed square^ and a sixteenth of an inch shorter than the others ; 
and I have never met with a saw before which will run through 
large knots and gnarls so noiselessly, and with so little power, and 
cut so neatly. 

654. There are several styles of saw-filers for fihng circular 
saws. But a man should have more saws to file than a common 
farmer usually owns, in order " to make it pay " to purchase a 
filer, which costs from $10 to $15. A httle practice and skill 
are more important than a saw-filer, unless some cheaper article 
shall be invented than any with which I have ever met. 

WHERE TO OBTAIN THE BEST PATENT GROUND SAWS. 

655. The best saws of every kind with which I have ever 
met, werr» manufactured by R. Hoe & Co., 29 Gold St., New 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 429 

York city, and by Andrews & Burbage, Elmira, N. Y. Their 
patent ground circulars sustain an unrivalled reputation through- 
out the States, not only for sawing lumber, but for farmers' wood- 
saws. The patent ground circulars are thicker in the centre than 
they are at the cutting edge, and are ground of a uniform taper 
from the centre to the edge, which shape renders them stronger 
than those which are ground in the usual manner ; and they 
require less set, and, as a consequence, less power is required to 
drive them ; and they are less liable to become heated ; and they 
do not w^ar out so many files, because the teeth are thinner ; 
and, more than all, they possess a superior temper ; and are made 
of the best of steel. I have two of them in use, and although I 
am a stranger to the manufacturers of these saws, I would not 
exchange one of these saws for a gross of common saws. If a 
farmer desires a good saw of any kind, and made of any thick- 
ness, or of any style of teeth, or if he has an old saw which needs 
to be re-toothed, or re-tempered^ or straightened, he need not fear 
to confide in either of these companies. 

HANGING CIRCULAR SAWS. 

656. It is a pretty nice piece of work to hang a circular saw 
just right. It is an impossibility to make a saw mathematically 
true, or to hang it to run with mathematical precision ; but it is 
easy for a good mechanic to approximate as near perfection in 
this respect as is of practical use. A good saw is often con- 
demned when the whole fault is in the mandrel on which it turns ; 
and a badly fitted mandrel is liable to spoil a good saw. 

657. The idea to be kept in mind is, to have the collars or 
flanges turned as true as possible ; and any deviation in the col- 
lars from trueness, will multiply this deviation in the saw just as 
many times as the saw is larger than the collars. The bearings 
of the mandrel should be turned first, and then the face of the 
collar should be turned off very true, without changing ends of 
the mandrel in the lathe. Sometimes the centres or points in a 
lathe deviate a trifle, and by changing ends with the mandrel, 
and finishing a part of it with the ends in opposite directions, the 



430 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

bearings will not be true with the collars. If the lathe be rather 
light, and it springs when the collars are being turned, the man- 
drel should be put in the lathe, and the face of the fixed collar 
turned while the mandrel revolves on its own hearings^ and not 
merely on the centres of the lathe. Sometimes the collars must 
be turned a little concave^ to fit the saw well, and sometimes one 
must be a little concave and the other one correspondingly con- 
vex or straight, as the shape of the saw requires. The mandrel 
should fit snugly the eye of the saw without any play. When 
the saw is placed on the mandrel, if it deviates any in revolving, 
it may be adjusted by a piece or two of paper, between the col- 
lar and the saw, and be made to run with the greatest precision. 
The bearings should be so neatly fitted to the boxes, that there 
will be no working of it up and down, nor any play endways. 
(See Fitting- up Machinery, in the next volume.) In sawing 
anything where exactness is not necessary, if there should be a 
little play of the mandrel endways, it matters not ; but in sawing 
to a gauge, if there be much play of the mandrel endways, some 
pieces will be thicker or longer than others, according to the 
amount of play. 

BALANCING SAWS. 

658. "When saws are hung on a mandrel having a fly-wheel 
on it, if it is not well balanced the saw will vibrate or flutter at 
the edge, and the frame will shake like a person who has been 
attacked with the quotidian ague. When a saw is weU balanced 
the frame will not tremble, even when the motion is very high. 
(See How to Balance a Saw, in next vol.) 



GUMMING SAWS 

659. Is the act of making the teeth longer by making the 
spaces between them deeper. This is performed in several ways. 
The best mode, but most expensive, is, to gum with a file ; be- 
cause by gumming with a file there is no danger of breaking or 
bending a saw, nor of stretching the edge. And if tlie spaces 



TIJE YOUNG farmer's MANUAL. 431 

were filed deeper, as the points wear off there would be no neces- 
sity for ever gumming saws at all. 

660. Gumming is often done with a cold-chisel and hammer 
while the saw lies on the smooth face. of an anvil, or an equiva- 
lent to an anvil. If gummed in this way, it must be done with 
a thin, sharp chisel and a rather light hammer ; and the operator 
cannot be too particular in having the part of the saw opposite 
the chisel rest level on the anvil. One careless blow has often 
broken a good saw, or damaged it by kinking it or cracking a 
tooth. Beth ends of the saw should be supported as high as the 
surface of the anvil, and then, with a narrow cold-chisel, about 
one-fourth of an inch wide, work crossways of the saw, with the 
edge of the chisel parallel with the edge of the saw. Never 
cleave at one cut more than one-eighth of an inch, unless the chip 
be cut loose first on the ends. If the chisel stands crossways of 
the saw, in working the spaces deeper there is great danger of 
stretching the edge of the saw, or of starting the teeth near the roots. 

661. Gumming saws with a machine is done with a kind of 
punch playing in a die of the shape of the spaces, which is at- 
tached to a strong lever, and the saw is placed between the die 
and punch, and the spaces are worked deeper by nipping a little 
at each descent of the lever. In gumming with a machine every 
alternate tooth should be gummed with the saw the other side up. 
If the gumming be all done on one side it is apt to hend the saw ; 
and straightening it back stretches the edge ; and, in stretching the 
middle, by striking the saw a few smart blows on opposite sides 
with a hammer having a roundish face, when the saw lies on a 
true anvil so as to make the edges straight, there is great danger 
of breaking a saw. The cutting edge of the punch should have 
about three-sixteenths of an inch hevel^ so as to make a cleaner 
and easier cut when gumming it. • 

662. There is always more or less danger of damaging a good 
saw while gumming it ; therefore it is far better to expend a dol- 
lar in gumming with a file than to pay a dollar for gumming with 
a chisel or gummer. 

663. In order to have aU the spaces and the teeth of a uniform 



432 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 



Fig. 184. size, they should be marked out 

with a templet, shown at Fig. 
184, which is made of a piece of 
sheet-iron, or a thin piece of hard 
wood, and is placed with one end 
on the collar against the side of 
the saw ; and as each tooth is filed 
the templet may be placed against 
the saw, in order to determine 
whether the face or hack of a 
tooth requires more fihng or not. 

664. Fig. 185 shows the form of a templet for marking out 

Fig. 185. 




MANNBB OF MARKIXO OUT THE COKEECT 
SHAPE OF SAW TEETH. 




new teeth on a saw like the shape of the teeth at J, Fig. 183. 
The templet may be formed to mark out any style of teeth. 



MILL SAWS. 

665. Why is lumber often sawed of all shapes and of variable 
thicknesses at the great majority of saw-mills ? In most instances 
it is in consequence of the saw being in improper order. Should 
the set get out of any of the teeth on either side, by passing a 
hard knot a saw will most assuredly run^ and make the lumber 
thicker or thinner in the middle than it should be. From what 
has been said of filing and setting other saws, the tyro will be 
able to file and set a mill saw in a proper manner. Where both 
hard aTad soft logs are to be sawed, it would be good policy to 
have a saw for each kind of wood. For sawing hard wood logs 
the plate should be rather thick and stifT, with the teeth nearer 
together, and rather shorty to retain the set longer, than in a saw 
designed solely for soft wood. In order to saw lumber or timber 
of an exact size, and very true and smooth, the saw or saws must 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 



433 



be in perfect order. A few practical directions may not be amiss 
on the subject of 



FORMS OF TEETH IN SAWS WHICH WORK UP AND DOWN. 

666. Fig. 186 represents a mill saw having five different forms 
of teeth. At a the teeth are filed on the Fig. 186. 

face, at a right angle with the cutting 
edge of the saw, and the backs, or upper 
sides, at an angle of forty-five degrees. 
This is the oldest and most common form 
of teeth, and whether filed square or 
bevelling, more power is required to drive 
a saw having this kind of teeth, unless 
they are hammered as at e. Teeth of 
this form remove the sawdust by scraping 
instead of cutting. It requires less skill to 
keep such teeth in good order than either 
of the other kinds. 

667. At h much the same kind of teeth 
is shown, with the faces filed at an acute 
angle, giving them a greater hook^ while 
the hacks are of the same angle. If tlie 
motion were high, such teeth will cut 
much faster, with the same power, than 
the kind at a. But if the motion be very 
slow, teeth with much hook are liable to 
draw into the log farther than they are 
able to cut without staggering or trembling^ 
as if having too much feed. 

668. At c and d are two different kinds 
of teeth, which operate with far less 
power than those at a and 5, but they 
require much more skill to keep them in 
order. But by using a templet (see Fig. 
185), any one who is able to put the teeth 
of anv saw in order will find little difficultv vriili th^so. The 




434 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

teeth at c should be filed so that the cutting points shall be one- 
sixteenth or one-twentieth of an inch more prominent than they 
are back of the points. (See Fig. 183, c.) If the material to be 
sawed be such that each tooth is required to cut one-sixteenth of 
an inch, by filing the ends of the teeth so that a line drawn from 
the point of one tooth would strike one-sixteenth of an inch lelow 
the point of the first tooth hack of it, the saw cannot draw into 
the log any farther than it will cut without trenibling, even if the 
teeth be filed very hooked. 

669. At c? is a form for teeth having a AeeZ or guide to prevent 
the saw from drawing into the log when sawing. The guides or 
heels are dressed in a line with each other, at a given distance 
back of the cutting edge. If, in sawing, the saw is inclined to 
haul into the log, the heels prevent its entering any farther than 
is desirable. 

670. At e teeth are represented with the points hammered ; 
i. e., with repeated blows on the hack of a tooth, near the point, 
with a light hammer, the edge is turned downward. There is a 
saving of nearly one-half the power by hammering the teeth, if 
it be performed very skillfully. If this spur should not all be 
worn off before filing again, it is necessary to hold a smooth and 
square piece of steel against the face of the tooth, and with a few 
blows of a hammer upwards, bring this spur on a line with the 
face of the tooth, so that it will not be filed off in dressing the 
tooth. 

671. As hammering teeth, either for the purpose of setting 
them or turning down the points, refines the steel and renders it 
harder, the cutting quality of an inferior saw is often improved 
by working the points with a hammer when cold. 

672. It is of primary importance that a saw which works up 
and down, should be jointed straight on the edge. If a saw is 
allowed to become hollowing on the cutting edge more than one- 
fourth of an inch, if everything is not made doubly strong, we 
may surely expect that the saw or something else will break. If 
the cutting edge is crowning from end to end, a saw cannot be 
made to work up to its greatest capacit}^. A jointer for a mill 



THE YOUNG FAKMEK'S MANUAL. 435 

saw may be made with its edges straight and square, Hke the 
jointer for a crosscut saw. (See Fig. 182.) In order to have a 
saw work well, it should be jointed every alternate time it is 
filed. A skillful filer will take a square block a foot long, and 
one by three inches square, and place the flat side of it against 
the side of the saw, and, holding the jointing-file on the edge of 
the block, joint the teeth very true. 

LENGTH OF THE CUTTING EDGE OF A SAW. 

672|^. "When a saw is worked by a crank and pitman, all the 
teeth beyond a given point had better be cut away ; because, it 
is only a waste of time and tools, to keep them in order with the 
teeth that do all the sawing. The teeth helow the rabbet on the 
head-block, when the crank is up never cut any, unless in sawing 
a log with a bow downwards. If the stroke of the crank be 
twenty-four inches, and the logs one foot in diameter, three feet 
of the cutting edge is all that is brought in contact with the log ; 
and a cutting edge of greater length would be useless. If the 
logs be two feet in diameter, and twenty-four-inch stroke of the 
crank, the cutting edge should be four feet long. If the logs be 
three feet in diameter, the cutting edge of the saw should be not 
less than four and a half feet long. When the crank is down, 
all the teeth above the log are useless. 

673. This rule holds good in regard to saws that are worked 
horizontally. In sawing off logs two feet in diameter with a 
crank having a twenty-eight-inch stroke, the cutting edge should 
be four feet and four inches long. With the same crank, for saw- 
ing off logs only one foot, three feet four inches of the cutting 
edge is all that saws. 

674. There is, many times, two or three inches in length of 
the cutting edge of hand-saws near the handle, which never saws 
any, and is worse than useless ; because, the teeth must all be 
filed ofi" in order to keep them of the same length as those in the 
middle of the saw. These suggestions will enable the young 
filer to understand how large a number of teeth near the ends of 
his saw are useless. 



436 THE YOUNG FAKMER's MANUAL. 

RAKE OF SAWS. 

674-|. Saws are hung in a gate working up and down, not 
only for sawing logs, but for sawing out boat-knees, sleigh-run- 
ners, felloes for wheels, wagon thills, scrolls, and other circular 
work, and they are always dressed to cut only when they descend. 
If the material be forced on to the saw when it is ascending, 
unless it should be very heavy, the material with the carriage 
will be jerked up and down in a most frightful manner. To 
avoid this difficulty the saw is hung with a rake^ (see Techni- 
calities, Par. 602,) in order to allow the material to be brought 
up to the saw with facility when it is ascending. 

675. I knew a mechanic once who got up a little saw for saw- 
ing out felloes and sleigh-runners, and not understanding this 
principle, he hung his saw without any rake. He could not 
make it operate with any degree of satisfaction until he hung the 
saw with a rake. 

676. The amount of rake which should be given to a saw, 
should he equal, usually, to the greatest amount of feed, measuring 
from the tooth which is found at the upper side of the timber 
when the crank is down. Many sawyers hang their saws with- 
out any rake. 

677. To ascertain the amount of rake, set the crank up, and 
suspend a plumb, P, Fig. 186,'' with a small line from the upper 
tooth, and lean the saw forward as far as is desirable, as shown 
in the figure, and fasten it there. 

678. Rake, in saws which work horizontally, is something 
which is seldom recognized or even thought of. But when a 
drag or a hutting saw is attached to a pitman, and it is filed to 
saw only one way, if the cutting edge is not exactly parallel 
with a line cutting the centre of the pitman, it 7nay or may not 
be hung with a rake. If the farthest end falls helow a parallel 
line cutting the centre of the pitman, it will have a rake just in 
proportion to the distance it falls below a parallel line. 

BANGING SAWS 

679. Is a very important consideration where a carriage or 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAI/, 437 

table is used. The carriage or table should always move parallel 
with the sides of the saw. An ingenious sawyer will be able to 
determife, by simply glancing his eye along the sides of the saw 
to some point on the carriage, whether the saw and carriage are 
in range or not. When the carriage or table is fitted up, the 
saw must be hung to correspond with it ; but, when the saw is 
already in the desired position, the table or carriage must be 
fitted to the saw. To determine whether the carriage or table of 
a circular saw for cutting wood is in range with the saw, push 
the carriage back as far as it will go, and then place a board 
having a straight edge on the carriage, with the straight edge as 
close to one side of the saw as it can be and not hit it. Move 
the carriage back and forth, with the straight-edged board on 
both sides of the saw, and if the board remains just so far from 
the saw, it is all correct. When there is a long carriage, run 
one end of the carriage to the saw, and stick a nail where the 
edge of the saw hits. Now, move the carriage so that the other 
end will be at the saw, and stick another nail. Now, hold a lon^^ 
straight edge against the side of the saw-plate ; and if in range, 
the straight edge will point directly to these nails. If the feed- 
ing-table of a circular wood-saw does not range with the saw, it 
will be almost impossible to saw ojBf a large stick, because it 
will Und against the sides of the saw, and almost stop the motion 
of it if the power is limited. 

THE VELOCITY OF THE CUTTING EDGE OF SAWS. 

680. There is little danger of having the teeth of any saw 
move too fast. The faster the cutting edge moves, the more 
work a saw is capable of performing. When there is an abun- 
dance of available power, it is well to have a buzz-saw run with a 
frightful velocity ; for it will saw much smoother and faster than 
if it moves with less rapidity. But when the power is limited, 
and it is desirable to lose none of that power, it is very impor- 
tant to have the cutting edge move at the most effective velocity for 
the power which drives it. Some engineers say that the cutting 
edge of a crosscut circular saw should move about seventy-five 



438 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

feet per second, while others, of equally good authority, say 
one hundred feet and more per second. The diameter of the 
saw has much to do in this respect. A circular saw, t\^nty-two 
inches in diameter, has a cutting edge of sixty-nine inches. Now, 
if it revolves twelve hundred times in one minute, the cutting 
edge will move one hundred and fifteen feet per second, or .<ix thou- 
sand nine hundred feet per minute ; and if the wood to be sawed 
be as large as that saw will cut in two without turning it over, 
by putting another saw of the same thickness, having teeth the 
same distance apart, which is twenty-six inches in diameter on 
the same mandrel, the same amount of power will saw more than 
it will with the saw twenty-two inches in diameter. It will require 
a little more power to drive the twenty-six-inch saw, because it 
is a little heavier ; but the difi'erence is so small that it cannot be 
perceived. And the diameter of the saw being greater, there 
will be a greater leverage to absorb the driving power. But the 
velocity of the cutting edge of the twenty-six-inch saw being (at 
1200 revolutions per minute) one hundred and thirty-six feet per 
second, together with the greater diameter of the saw, by reason 
of which, in sawing materials of the size already mentioned, 
fewer teeth cut at the same time, both operate in favor of the 
large saw. Consequently, a twenty-six-inch saw will do more 
with the same power than a twenty-two-inch saw, in sawing 
wood that is nearly all as large as a twenty-two-inch saw will 
reach through ; the teeth and thickness of the plate being the 
same. If, now, the speed pulley on the saw mandrel be made 
so large as to give the cutting edge of the twenty-six-inch saw 
a velocity of one hundred and fifteen feet per second, the same 
amount of power will saw more than when the velocity of the 
teeth was one hundred and thirty-six feet per second. If the 
tvro should have much sawing to do, and his power hmited, it 
would be well worth while to have two or three different speed 
pulleys to put on the saw mandrel. The size of the pulleys 
would very soon decide whether too much of the power was 
absorbed in producing a higher velocity than will be most effect- 
ive for the amount of power employed. The driving wheel may 



THE YOUNG FAKMER'S MANUAL. 439 

be so large and speed-pulley so small, (in a one or two-horse 
power,) as to absorb all the available power in getting up a good 
velocity. These should be just large enough to allow the horses 
to move with their ordinary gait. Intimately connected with 
this subject, as elucidating and rendering it more intelligible, is 

THE INFLUENCE OF THE THICKNESS OF THE MATERIALS 
TO BE SAWED. 

681. Every one who has ever sawed a board in two with a 
hand-saw knows that it will require three times more time and 
power to saw off a board one foot wide, if the saw be made to 
cut entirely across the width of the board, than it does to saw it 
having the saw cut only across the thickness of the board at once. 
A man will saw in two with a hand-saw twelve boards one foot 
wide and an inch thick, twice as quick as he can saw in two a 
stick of timber one foot square. A man will saw with a slitting- 
saw, eight feet in length of a board one inch thick, quicker and 
easier than he can saw one foot in length of a four-inch plank 
with the same saw, unless the teeth were very coarse. 

682. In sawing fire-wood with a two-horse-power, if the wood 
be nearly all from six to eight inches tliick, by splitting it in two 
before sawing it can be sawed with the same power in about half 
the time that it would require, without being made smaller. 
With an abundance of power a cord of large wood could be sawed 
sooner than a cord of small wood. A span of horses on a two- 
horse railway power will do a good business at shtting boards 
and plank from one and a half to three inches thick. As the 
thickness of materials to be sawed increases, in order to do a fair 
business an increase of power is necessary. With a circular saw 
about one foot in diameter, driven by two horses, a man can saw 
seventy feet in length of hard lumber one inch thick — if he is able 
to handle the lumber as fast as the saw will cut it — sooner than he 
can saw through a plank twelve feet long and three inches thick. 

683. A circular saw ten or twelve inches in diameter, for slit- 
ting boards and two-inch plank, will do much neater and smoother 
work than a saw twice as large in diameter. This is particularly 

19 



440 THE YOUNG FAKMER'S MANUAL. 

SO with hard-wood lumber, for shtting which a saw that is just 
large enough to reach through a board or plank to be sawed will 
saw smoother than a larger saw, that wiU cut more square across 

the lumber. 

684 In sawing logs into boards, either with an up-and-down 
saw or with a circular saw, the larger the logs are the greater 
must be the power in order to do a profitable busmess. A power 
that will do a good business at sawing logs from one to two feet 
in diameter into lumber, if the power be all absorbed m sawing 
such logs, will be insufficient to drive a saw at a good velocity 
through logs from three to four feet in diameter. It is all folly 
to attempt to do a fair business in sawing anything thick and 
heavy, with a weak or Umited power. If, in erecting a steam 
saw-mill, the logs are of an average large size, it would be infi- 
nitely more profitable to the proprietor to have an engine say of 
not less than thirty-horse-power, that would drive a saw with a 
good speed through any log, however large and hard it might be, 
than it would to use an engine of ten or fifteen-horse-power. ^ 

685 In slitting lumber with my two-horse-power, with a cir- 
cular saw one foot in diameter, I found by experiment that with 
a pulley six inches in diameter on the mandrel I could saw only 
about half as fast with the horses travelling at a given gait as 
I could when the pulley was about eleven inches in diameter. 
With the small pulley too much of the power was absorbed m 
producing a given velocity. The difference was not so percepti- 
ble when sawing thin stuff as it was when sawing plank two or 
three inches thick. 

A WORD ABOUT FILES. 

6^ 6. My rule in selecting files is, to choose those that have a 
clear bright, and lively appearance, and that are well cut, having 
sharp corners. If the corners are Ml— loMch is of the greatest 
importance— the sides will be correspondingly sharp. If the cor- 
ners are not full; it is a pretty certain evidence that the temper is 
not right,— generally too hard,— and they will not do good ser- 




t— I 

Q 






(441) 



442 THE YOUNG FARMEK'S MANUAL. 

vice. Always examine the corners of files, and select those that 
have the sharpest corners. 

THE SIZE OF THE FILES 

687. Should be in proportion to the teeth. Files about the 
size of the teeth to be filed are generally the most economical, 
because there are more corners in proportion to the sides. T al- 
ways use very small triangular files for fihng small teeth. The 
douhle-cut single files, although they cost a trifle more, are prefer- 
able to the si7igle-cut ones, because they make a cleaner and 
neater cut when fihng. 

688. Save all the old files and have them cut over, in nearly 
any of our cities, at less than half their original cost. 

THE SLITTING-TABLE. 

689. Fig. 187 is a representation of a bench and shtting-table 
for slitting boards, plank, and anything else of that character. 
When a man has a wood-saw, he may bolt. two extension benches 
to the frame, as shown in the Fig., and put a small sUtting-saw 
on the mandrel, and he will find it a most convenient arrange- 
ment for slitting all kinds of lumber. I have such a table, the 
frame of which is twenty-four feet long, and the movable carriage 
or table is sixteen feet in length. This table is moved back and 
forth close to the saw, on rollers in the frame, and boards or plank, 
when being sawed, are placed on the table and pushed towards 
the saw. With two horses I can saw lath, door-casings, stiles 
for doors, and such hke, faster, and very much truer, than ten 
active men would be able to saw with hand-saws. (See Par. 
38.) The rollers — one of which is shown at the left hand in the 
Fig. which support the table, are about five inches in diam- 
eter, sixteen inches long, with a gain in each one for the guide 
to run in, which is fastened to the under side of the table. A 
n-auge is shown behind the sawyer, which is adjusted by two set- 
screws, a a, which screws pass through a long mortise in the stick 
under the gauge. The mit is beneath the long mortise. At 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 443 

the left hand is shown a portion of the table, with an iron 
dog, d, screwed to the top of the table for holding the plank. 

SQUARES AND MEASURING RULES. 

690. A carpenters' steel square is an indispensable tool in lay- 
ing out any heavy work. Steel squares are usually graduated 
correctly, and are as " square " as they can conveniently be made. 
The cominon iron squares are almost always a nuisance ; because 
they are not square, are not graduated correctly, are always 
bending and twisting, and the edges are not straight. No one 
who is possessed of much mechanical talent, will be satisfied to 
use an iron square. Steel squares are usually graduated and fig- 
ured on both sides, with a rule for measuring lumber on one 
side, which is many times very convenient. 

691. In addition to the carpenters' square, a try-square and 
bevel are very useful, and it is not very practicable to perform 
many little jobs without them. These can always be obtained at 
hardware stores, of almost any desirable size. 

692. A pocket rule is another very convenient instrument, 
both for laying out any piece of small work in the shop, and for 
taking the dimensions of anything that comes in our way that 
we wish to measure. Pocket-rules and carpenters' steel squares 
are usually graduated as small as sixteenths of inches, and the 
tyro should be careful to see that in purchasing a square he does 
not get turned off with an iron square. A good steel square 
will ring when struck while it hangs on one's finger, but an iron 
one will give a very dull sound. 

693. Mechanics who make many patterns for moulding for cast- 
iron, when they wish to have their casting of a given size, use 
a graduated rule twelve inches and one-eighth in length, or one- 
eighth of an inch to a foot longer than the sealed or statute meas- 
ure. The object of using such a rule is, to make the necessary 
allowance for the contraction or shrinkage of the iron in cooling. 
When such a rule is not at hand, it is necessary to make calcula- 
tions for the contraction of the iron, by making the pattern twelve 
inches and one-eighth long, if the iron is to be just twelve inches 



444 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

in length when cold. But when such a rule is used there is no 
allowance to be made and no liability to make mistakes. 

694. Squares are not always '■^ square^' or true. They may 
be readily tested when purchasing them, by holding them against 
the straight edge of a board, and making a mark across it, and 
then reverse it ; and if the arm of the square is exactly paral- 
lel with the mark, the square is true. Let squares and rules be 
kept bright by rubbing them with a piece of white chalk. 

695. Measuring poles are very convenient many times. I 
have three of different lengths. One is six feet in length, three- 
eighths of an inch thick at the ends and an inch Avide at the ends, 
and half an inch thick at the middle and two inches wide, gradu- 
ated to three inch spaces at the ends. Another is ten feet long, 
one inch wide and half an inch thick at the ends, and in the mid- 
dle two inches wide, graduated in feet. Another, of the same 
size as the ten feet pole, is sixteen and a half feet long, correctly 
graduated to half feet. These are all made of baswood, very 
straight and true, and varnished with three coats of shellac, (see 
next vol.,) and a piece of sheet copper, just the size of the ends, 
is neatly fitted and screwed on the ends, to keep them true and 
square. All these poles have their appropriate place in the shop, 
where they will lie in a straight position ; and when they are 
not in use they are returned promptly to their places. It will 
injure them very much to get very wet, by springing and warp- 
ing them. 

696. Instead of poles, many men have a graduated tape, two 
or four rods in length, which is wound up in a circular case of 
stiff' leather, and can be carried in the pocket. In measuring, 
the tape is drawn out of one side of the case, a part or the entirt^ 
length. The tape is usually graduated on one side into feet and 
inches, and on the opposite side is a graduation into links for 
measuring land. But for ordinary purposes, and especially for 
correct measuring, and for cheapness, poles are far the best, and 
the most convenient. One man can measure alone with a rod 
pole very expeditiously, while with a tape it would be very diflfi- 
cult for him to measure alone. 



THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 



445 



697. There have been of late several patent improvements in 
squares and measuring rules. But I shall notice none of them 
except the one in which the blade of a common hand-saw is 
graduated on both sides, at its back edge. There can be no par- 
ticular objection to this manner of having a measuring rule. 
But they who use this kind only, will find it, many times, 
very inconvenient ; and, besides, the teeth of the saw would be 
very hable to get a dulling oftener than we hke to file them, and 
it makes an awkward, clumsy rule at best. A saw and a good 
carpenters' square cannot very well be judiciously and conven- 
iently combined. 

698. For measuring the circumference of anything, or the out- 
side or inside of the rim of a wheel, or drum, it is not very prac- 
ticable to do it with a straight rule. For such purposes a meas- 
uring wheel is made use of, which is represented by Fig. 188. 

Fig. 188. 




A HRASITBIX6 WHEEL. 



The wheel should be about six or eight inches m diameter, and 
instead of being flat on the surface of the circumference, the 
wheel at the circumference should be^ formed to a sharp edge 
entirely around it. If it is three or four eighths wide at the cir- 
cumference, it is much more liable to vary from the correct meas- 
urement of anything which is measured with it. In measuring 
with the wheel, the operator must be careful to have it roll in a 
straight direction, and not from right to left, as that would indi- 
cate a greater distance than it really is. 



446 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 

799. Mr. Louis Young has invented an improvement in the 
measuring wheel, in which there is a neatly graduated circular 
disk in the end of the handle, which is moved by d. pawl, work- 
ing in a ratchet wheel at the disk, which pawl is worked by a 
cam on the shaft of the measuring-wheel. ^ hen the wheel is 
rolled forward, the distance traversed over is accurately indicated 
in feet, inches, and fractions of inches on the disk. But it is too 
expensive for farmers, otherwise I would have given an illustra- 
tion of it in this place. 

700. For measuring the circumference of small bodies, in the 
absence of a measuring-wheel, use a piece of small wire, and 
then take the length of it with the rule afterwards. There is a 
no more correct way to measure a round body than this. 

701, This chapter on edge tools has been revised and very 
much abbreviated, and a goodly number of tools which every 
farmer ought to have, have been excluded in order to bring the 
chapter within a proper limit for such a work as this. But if the 
young farmer is possessed of sufficient skill to put these in order, 
he will be able to put all others in order. When tools of a desired 
form or kind cannot be obtained at country hardware stores, the 
young farmer will be able to procure anything which he may de- 
sire at R. L. Allen's agricultural warehouse, 189 Water st.. New 
York city. 



INDEX. 



A. 

Abutments, how to make, 

Anvil, substitute for, 

Auger, extension lip, with cut, 

and bits, with cuts, 

names of difterent parts of) . 

how to sharpen, . 

defective augers, . . 

boring holes with, 

post-hole, or dirt auger, with cut, 
Awls, with cuts o^ . . . 

brad-awl, .... 

harness-awl, 

scratch -awl, .... 
Axe, with cut of, ... 

names of various parts of, 

proper shape of, . 

most proper weight ofj 

how to hang- correctly, 

rule for hanging correctly, 

how to put in order, 

most proper form of blade, with cut, 

clamp for grinding of, with cut, 

axe-helve, how to make, 

why helves should be crooked, . 

axe-helve pattern, 

how to handle expertly, 

B. 

Barley, how thick to sow. 

Barn, how to frame properly, with cuts, 

and houses, how to make higher, 

large and small, 

floor for, how to make joints, with cut of^ 

proper disposition of room, 

19* (447) 



PAIUaRAFH 


. PAGE. 


. 194 


153 


526 


368^ 


. 358 


269 


588 


401 


. 588 


401 


591 


401 


. 592 


403 


593 


403 


• 311 


231 


599 


405 


. 600 


405 


599 


405 


. 601 


405 


362 


273 


. 363 


273 


364 


273 


. 365 


274 


375 


279 


. 376 


279 


368 


375 


. 370 


276 


370 


276 


. 371 


276 


S11 


277 


. 373 


278 


378 


280 


. 511 


358 


48 


49 


. 56 


55 


19 


37 


21 


39 


35 


40 



448 



INDEX. 



Barn-yard, how to make, 

Baswood, value of, • • • 

shingles made of, . 
Balloon frames, . • • • 

cornice for, with cut of, 
Bars, sliding, with cut o^ . 
Back-furrow, definition o£, . 
Bark, influence of on timber, 
Binders for stone wall, 
Beetles, with cut of, how to make, 

how to handle, expertly, 
Bench, Farmer's work-bench, with cut of, 
Bench -planes, 
Bits, cuts of, . • 

extension-lip, with cut of, 
Blocks for fence, how made. 
Board fence, . . • • 

Boards, how to jomt, 

marking-board, with cut ofj 
for fence, most economical size, 
Boot-iron for spading, with cut of, 
Boring-machine ; with cut of, 

how to obtain one. 
Buckthorn, with cut of, how to propagate, 
Buildings, how to erect, 
where to locate, . 
when to commence erecting, 
pitch of roofs of, 
out-buildings, 

how to frame to prevent spreading, 
how to move buildings, 
Braces, how to make, 

c. 

Cant-hook, with cut of. 

Caps for fence, how made. 

Cedars, red, . . . • 

Cellar, how to make it, 

Chalk line and spool, with cut, 

Chisels, how made, 

cold-cliisel, how to grind, with cut, 
various kinds of, with cuts 



PAEA6BAPH. 


PAGE. 


. 26 


40 


35 


43 


. 36 


43 


50 


51 


. 52 


54 


112 


93 


. 465 


334 


10 


67 


. 191 


15] 


339 


257 


. 342 


260 


522 


367 


. 567 


387 


688 


401 


. 358 


269 


75 


69 


. 118 


96 


579 


396 


. 153 


124 


121 


101 


. 326 


246 


353 


267 


. 356 


269 


293 


218 


9 


31 


1 


28 


• 10 


32 


15 


35 


• 19 


37 


11 


36 


. 44 


48 


19 


38 


. 206 


160 


88 


79 


. 284 


211 


11 


B2 


. 330 


251 


531 


371 


. 563 


387 


582 


398 



INDEX. 



449 



Chisels, corner chisel, with cut of, 
duckbill do., with cut of, - 
framers and firmers, . 
how to grind correctly, with cuts, 
turning do. and gouges, 

Clamps for holding tools, 

Charcoal vs. Mineral, 

Chopping, how to do it. 

Coulter cfeaner, with cut of, 
how to adjust. 

Corn-house, how to make it rat-proof. 

Crowbar, with cut of, 



PARAGR.iPH. 


PAGE 


. 583 


398 


585 


399 


. 582 


398 


586 


400 


. 587 


401 


559 


385 


. 535 


573 


377 


280 


. 464 


333 


462 


331 


. 49 


51 


316 


234 



D. 

Ditches beneath stone walls, 

Draining, . . • . , 

manner of cutting do., 
grading bottom of, . . . 

depth and width of, . • 

how to determine depth of, 
cost of, per rod, 

side-hill drains, bow made, . , 

outlets for, how to form, 
how to prevent gullying, 
plow for, with cut, Alden's, 
how to lay tile in them, 
manner of laying stone in, with cuts, 
improper stoning, with cuts of, 
how to stone through quicksands, 
boards beneath tile, bad policy, 
filling with straw and sods, not allowable, 
important considerations in filling, 
how to form watering pools in, 
open drains, how to make, 
how to find obstructions in. 
filling with wood, with cuts, 
recapitulation, concluding remarks, 

Ditching with machines, 

Drilling-in grain, . , . , 

Dwelling-house, . . • , 



195 


154 


395 


287 


401 


1:90 


403 


292 


407 


295 


408 


296 


439 


316 


422 


305 


427 


308 


431 


311 


402 


291 


412 


398 


414 


302 


416 


303 


422 


306 


413 


301 


423 


306 


425 


307 


428 


309 


430 


310 


426 


308 


433 


311 


440 


317 


442 


320 


513 


359 


n 


39 



450 



INDEX. 



E. 



Edge Tools, 

tempering of, 

coarse and fine edges of, 

grinding of, 



PARAQSAPH. 


PAGE. 


527 


368^ 


. 532 


3T0 


543 


378 


. 548 


380 



F. 

Fencing, . . . , 

Fence, zig-zag rail, . 

rule, with cut of, 

how to lay foundation of rail, 

how to make higher without rails, 

lock and rider, 

stake and cap, with cut, 

bunk and cap, with cut, 

straight rail fence, with cut, 

horse, or skeleton, with cut, 

log, or pole, with cut, 

rod fence, 

side-hill, or gun fence, 

Jenkins' improved, 

park fence, with cut, 

stake and rider, 

double stake and rider, 

post and bar, 

guard fence, 

post and rail, 

board fence, 

E. Nash's improved, with cut, 

highwa}^ fence, with cut, 

division fence, with cut, 

self-sustaining board, 

barn-yard fence, 

rib fence, 

wire fence, 

Lowell wire fencing, with cut, 

picket fence, 

do. lawn do. 

self-sustaining picket, 

poultry-yard picket, with cut. 



59 


57 


76 


70 


11 


71 


79 


72 


80 


73 


84 


74 


86 


76 


91 


80 


92 


81 


94 


82 


97 


84 


101 


86 


103 


86 


222 


170 


105 


88 


106 


89 


107 


90 


109 


91 


108 


91 


110 


92 


118 


96 


117 


95 


122 


102 


124 


105 


125 


106 


132 


112 


133 


113 


135 


114 


163 


128 


167 


130 


171 


133 


173 


135 


175 


137 



INDJEX. 



451 



Fence, lattice, 

ornamental lawn, 

stone fence, 

A. B. Conger's, 

laws about fence, 

height of lawful fence, 

fence line, 

Uncle Will's buncomb, 
Farm, plotting of. 
Froe, a cooper's, with cut, 
Furrow-slice, definition of, 
Files, how to select, 
Filer, Saw, with cut, 
Fruit-trees, how to prune, 



ABAOBAPH 


PAGB. 


. 183 


142 


180 


141 


. 186 


145 


203 


157 


. 389 


285 


393 


286 


. 329 


259 


394 


286 


5 


29 


87 


78 


. 456 


333 


687 


442 


. 620 


414 


305 


226 



G. 



Gates, with five cuts of, 

denominations of parts of, 
instructions to aid in making, 
gate-stile, with cut of, 
how to hang correctly, 
philosophy of hanging, 
wire gates, with cut of, 
iron lawn gate, with cut of, 
railway, why objectionable, 

Gate- way, self-sustaining, 

Gauge -wheel, 

how to use two, 

Gin for loading stone, &c., with cut, 

Gluts, how to make, with cuts, . 

Grab-hook, . . . , 

Grain, how to sow 

Grapple-hook, with cut of, 

Grass-hook, with cut of. 

Grass-seed, how to sow, 

Grindstone, complete, with cut o^ 
how to select a good one, 
improved shaft for, with cut, 
should be protected, 

Gouges, . ' . 

Grubbing-hoe, with cut of. 



236 


176 


237 


177 


238 


178 


240 


179 


241 


181 


243 


183 


255 


191 


256 


192 


259 


194 


258 


]94 


459 


330 


463 


331 


212 


162 


350 


265 


524 


368 


492 


351 


208 


161 


360 


271 


506 


356 


541 


378 


538 


375 


540 


376 


542 


378 


587 


400 


328 


249 



452 



INDEX. 



H. 





PABAOBAPH. 


PAO& 


Hammer, improved claw, with cut, 


331 


252 


how to hang, and form of handle. 


. 331 


253 


riveting do., how to use it, 


337 


256 


sledges, how to use expertly, 


. 332 


254 


Harrows, and harrowing, 


482 


345 


triangular hinge, with cut, 


. 483 


346 


coulter, with cut, .... 


48T 


347 


Herald and Tompkins' iron, with cut . 


. 489 


348 


learning beginners to harrow. 


490 


350 


Hedges, style of, how to propagate, . 


. 260 


196 


preparation of soil for. 


260 


196 


how to plant the quicks, 


. 268 


202 


how to prune, .... 


271 


204 


laying and plashing, 


. 274 


205 


protecting from cattle. 


277 


207 


how to repair old ones, 


. 278 


207 


for wet grounds, 


279 


208 


kind of plants for. 


. 281 


209 


causes of failure in raising. 


298 


220 


distance apart for the quicks, 


. 300 


221 


hedge complete, with cut, 


307 


227 


Headland, how to plow. 


. 474 


339 


Hurdles, with cut, .... 


174 


136 


Hinges, with cuts of, ... 


. 241 


182 


forked, with cut, .... 


247 


186 


how to draw from a post, 


. 241 


182 


Hook, cant, with cut, .... 


206 


160 


grapple, with cut, 


. 208 


161 



I. 

Instruments for bending wires into loops, 



J. 



Jack, for fence, with cut. 

Jaws of work-bench, how to make, 

Jaekplane, and bit, with cut of, 

Jointer iron, with cut. 

Jointing boards and plank, . 

Jointing saws, how done, 

Jenkins' iron post, with cut, 



177 



139 



327 


247 


521 


366 


571 


390 


572 


391 


579 


396 


615 


412 


222 


169 



INDEX. 



453 



K. 



Knives, case knives, how to grind, 

most proper angle for grinding, 
Kyanizing timber, 



L. 



Laws, fence, 
Land, definition of) 
Lath, how to make, . 
Locust, yellow and honey, 
how to propagate, 



M. 



Machine for mixing mortar, with cut, 

Mandrel, for boring machine, with cut, 

Mallet, with cut, 

Mattock, with cut, 

Maul, stone, 

Measuring rules, 

Measuring wheel. 

Mortar, how to make good, 



Nails, how to drive, how to draw, 



Osage Orange, with cut, 

how to propagate, 

Oil-stone, importance of, 



N. 



O. 



P. 



Pickets, forms of tops, with 11 cuts, 

Perch offence, how much it is, . 

Platform for wagon, with cut, 

Plumb rule, with cut, 

Pick, with cut, 

Planes, how to select good ones. 

Plane irons, with cuts, 

how to put in order, 
how to adjust the irons of, 



PABAOKAPH. 


PAGK. 


549 


381 


. 563 


386 


232 


175 


. 389 


285 


465 


334 


. 38 


44 


288 


213 


. 290 


214 


40 


45 


. 358 


270 


838 


257 


. 328 


249 


336 


256 


. 692 


443 


698 


445 


. 39 


45 



331 



253 



291 


215 


292 


216 


565 


387 


184 


143 


187 


147 


210 


161 


319 


237 


328 


249 


568 


338 


570 


388 


571 


388 


573 


390 



454 



INDEX. 



Plane, defective ones, 

how to plane true. 
Plows and plowing, 

defective plows, 

which is the best, 

how to select a good one, 

characteristics of a good one, 

how to hitch a team to, 

how to adjust the draught of, 

steel plows,, advantages of, 

how to hold, 

riding on handles, 

plowing lands and ridges, 

how to plow straight, 

how to finish a land neatly. 
Plowing headlands, 

commencing in the middle of field, with cuts, 
Plowman, good and poor, 
Technicalities in plowing, 
Plovvpoints, how chilled, 

coulter cleaner, with cut, 

gauge wheels for, 
Pools, in drains, .... 
Posts, how to split, with cut, 

for bars, with cut, 

fence, how to set in a line, 

to prevent their upheaval, with cut, 

straining-posts, with cut, 

how to set, 

large and small, 

posts for fence, length of, &c., 

kind of timber for, 

clamp for holding, with cut, 

how to sharpen correctly, with cuts, . 

Jenkins' cast-iron, with cut, 

turned posts, 

iron post, for wire fence, . 

driving posts, 

charring, injurious, 

steeping, &c. to render durable, 

top end up vs. top end down, 
wrench for holding, when driving, 





PARAOaAPB. 


PAOB. 


. 


575 


391 


, 


. 516 


391 


, 


444 


321 


. 


. 445 


321 


. 


446 


322 


. 


. 449 


323 


. 


450 


324 


, 


. 456 


328 


• 


455 


321 


. 


. 454 


821 


. 


466 


334 


. 


. 468 


336 


. 


469 


331 


. 


. 471 


338 


. 


473 


338 




. 414 


339 


h 


411 


340 


. 


. 466 


335 


. 


465 


333 


. 


. 451 


325 


. 


464 


332 


• 


. 459 


330 


. 


428 


309 


. 


. 66 


64 


. 


115 


94 


. 


. 152 


122 


. 


225 


111 


. 


. 151 


121 


, 


221 


172 


, 


. 149 


121 


. 


216 


165 


, 


. 218 


166 


, 


220 


161 


. 


. 220 


168 




221 


169 


. 


. 182 


143 




159 


126 


. 


. 228 


113 


, 


230 


114 


. 


. 232 


175 




235 


176 


, 


. 229 


113 



INDEX. 



455 



Quarrying stone, how done, 
wedges for, 



Q. 



R. 



PABAGEAPH. PAGE. 

204 158 
. 205 159 



Razorsi,- how to sharpen, . 

Rails, splitting of. rule of, &c., with cut, 

length and size of, 

peehng, importance of, 

distributing for fence, 

fence, how to build, . 

different kinds in one fence, 
Rack, for tools, with cut of, . 
Rake of saws, .... 
Rammer, with cut, .... 
Ranging saws, .... 
Rollers, how to make a cheap, with cut, 

Giles' and Tompkins', with cut, 
Rule, plumb, with cut of, . 

pocket, and other kinds, . 

s. 

Saws, technicalities in relation to, 
names of different kinds of, 
how to select good ones, 
external signs of good ones, 
number of teeth in. . 
how to put in order, 
clamp for holding, with cuts, . 
how to joint, 

best angle for filing the face of teeth, 
cuts of saws well, and badly filed, 
setting of, how done, 
should not be filed with old files, 
patent saw-filer, with cut, 
slitting saws, how to file, 
effect of setting too much, 
sets, simplest form of, 
three sections of, showing the set of teeth, 
bent and swedged set, with cuts, . 
how to on tt saw teeth, 



550 


382 


63 


60 


67 


65 


70 


66 


71 


67 


77 


71 


73 


69 


310 


230 


674^ 


436 


315 


233 


679 


437 


616 


361 


617 


363 


319 


237 


690 


443 


602 


406 


603 


407 


604 


407 


605 


408 


606 


408 


611 


410 


612 


411 


615 


412 


618 


413 


622 


416 


626 


417 


611 


410 


620 


414 


619 


414 


628 


417 


34 


419 


626 


417 


631 


418 


640 


421 



456 



INDEX. 



Saws, how to set ver}'- hard saws, 

two-hand cross-cut, with cut, 

improved • . 

how to put in order, 

how to handle with skill, 

compass, billet-web, how to file, 

circular, with cut and forms of teeth, 

kow to hang circulars, 

jointing circulars, 

filing circulars, 

Andrews & Burbage's patent ground circulars, 

balancing, how done, (see next vol.) 

gumming saws, how to do it, 

how to mark out the teeth, 

mill saws, 

forms of teeth in up and down saws, . 

length of cutting edge, 

rake of saws, 

ranging, how done, 

velocity of cutting edge o^ 

thickness of materials to be sawed, 

table for sawing, with cut, 
Scythes, grass and cradle, with cut, 

microscopic view of edge, with cut, . 

how to grind and whet, 

how to spoil good ones. 
Seed, signs of good and poor, 
Sickle, Dutch, with cut. 
Shears, pruning, with cut of, 

wife's and sheep-, with cut of section, 
Sheers, or gin, with cut of^ 
Shingles, how to lay, 
Siding, how to nail on, . 
Slitting table, with cut. 
Soles, for tile, .... 
Sowing grain, by hand, 

casting it all one way, 

casting it both ways, 

by stakes, .... 

by furrows and ridges, 

important considerations about. 



PABAOBAPH. 


PAGE 


638 


420 


. 641 


421 


643 


422 


. 644 


422 


648 


423 


. 649 


424 


651 


425 


. 656 


429 


652 


427 


. 653 


427 


s, . 655 


428 


. 658 


430 


659 


430 


. 663 


432 


665 


432 


. 666 


433 


6l2h 


435 


. 674^ 


436 


679 


436 


. 680 


437 


681 


439 


. 689 


441 


551 


382 


. 552 


383 


553 


383 


. 557 


384 


295 


219 


. 360 


271 


547 


380 


. 566 


388 


212 


162 


. 18 


37 


22 


40 


. 689 


441 


413 


301 


. 492 


351 


498 


352 


. 499 


352 


601 


353 


. 497 


352 


503 


354 



INDEX. 



457 



Sowing grain when the wind blows, 

how to gauge the handfuls, 

how to sow grass seed, 

thick and thin seeding, 

experiments in, 

the most proper quantity per acre, 

seeding with drill, 

most proper depth to cover, 
Spoon, dirt, with cuts, 
fSpud, with cut. 
Squinting, how to do it, 
Steel, how to temper, 

should be heated with charcoal, 
Stones, how to break with fire, . 

tools, for handling, 

oil-stones. 
Stone walls, with cuts, 

cobble do. 

how to quarr}', 

windlass for loading, with cut, 

gate post, with cut, . 

how to lay in ditches, with cuts, 
Shovels, with cuts, 

how they should be hung, 

how to shovel with ease, , 

care of, . 
Stakes, how to split, &&, 
Stile for gate, with cut, . 
Spades, with cut, 

well and ill hung, 

how to spade with skill, 

importance of, care of, keep bright, 
Spool for chalk line, . 
Squares, carpenter's steel, 

how to test their trueness, 

graduated of different lengths, 

strokes, sliding and crushing, 
Swedge, with cut. 



T. 



Templet, with two cuts of, 
Timber, best time to cut, 



PAEAQBAPH. 


PAGE. 


. 504 


354 


505 


355 


. 506 


356 


508 


356 


. 509 


357 


510 


358 


. 513 


359 


514 


359 


. 318 


235 


313 


232 


. 580 


397 


534 


372 


. 535 


373 


205 


159 


• 206 


160 


565 


386 


. 187 


147 


191 


151 


. 204 


158 


208 


161 


. 256 


192 


418 


304 


. 323 


243 


324 


243 


. 323 


245 


325 


246 


. 63 


60 


240 


179 


. 320 


238 


320 


238 i 


. 321 


239 


322 


240 


. 329 


250 


690 


443 


. 694 


444 


693 


443 


. 543 


377 


635 


419 


. 663 


432 


61 


59 



458 



INDEX. 



Timber, treatment of, 

how to scarf, with cuts, . . 

cause of decay, 

baswood, .... 

how to cut down, 

how to saw down, . . 

. Kyaniziug and Burnettizing, 
TechnicaUties in plowing, 

with relation to saws, 
Tile, how manufactured, . 

signs of good, 

best form of calibre, 

branch pieces how made, 

how to lay, in a ditch, 

horse-shoe, how to lay, 

boards beneath, bad policy, 

how many per rod, cost of. 
Tools, edge, . . . . 

how to temper, 

how to grind, 

clamps for holding when grinding, 

most proper angle to grind, 

for building fence, 

rack for holding, . 

use and care of, 



PABAGBAPH. 


PAGE. 


. 62 


59 


32 


42 


. 33 


42 


35 


43 


. 389 


284 


387 


283 


. 232 


175 


465 


333 


. 602 


406 


436 


315 


. 437 


315 


438 


315 


. 438 


316 


412 


289 


. 413 


301 


413 


301 


. 435 


313 


527 


369 


. 532 


371 


548 


381 


. 559 


385 


561 


386 


. 308 


228 


310 


230 


. 309 


229 



Underdraining, 



u. 



• • 



895 



287 



Velocity of saws, 
Vise, how to make, 



V. 



'• • 



680 
621 



437 
366 



w. 



Wax for grafting, 
Watering-pools for stock, 
Wedges, with four cuts of, . 

for quarrying stone, 

best form of, . 

recoiling of how to make stick. 



305 


226 


428 


309 


344 


262 


205 


159 


347 


264 


349 


265 



INDEX. 



459 



Windlass, with cut, to load stone with, 
Wheels, gauge, large and small, . 

two on one plow, 
Wire, for fence, .... 

sizes of the numbers, with cut, 

how to unite, with cut, . 

how to fasten to posts, 

how to anneal, 

caijpes of failure in wire fence, 

to bend into loops for fence, with cut, 

how to strain, with strainer, . 

contraction and dilation of, per foot, 

stay wires, .... 

section of wire fence, cut of, 

Lowell wire fencing, with cut of bale, 

manner of weaving the wires, with cut, 
Walls, stone, with cuts of section, 

properly and improperly laid, 

how to lay the stone of, 

cobble-stone walls, 

half wall, .... 

built of quarried stone, 

why they fall down, 

Hon. A. B. Conger's, 

how to have good, in a house. 
Water lime cellars, 
Work-bench, with cut of, . 





. 211 


161 




459 


330 




. 461 


331 




139 


117 




. 141 


117 


, 


142 


118 




. 146 


119 




140 


117 




. 136 


115 




1T6 


138 




. 154 


124 




154 


124 




. 157 


125 




161 


127 




. 163 


128 




166 


129 




. 187 


147 




187 


147 




. 188 


148 




191 


151 




. 198 


156 




201 


156 




. 187 


Ui\ 




203 


157 




37 


44 


. 


13 


34 


^ 


. 522 


367 



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